Poll: What's Blizzard's big WWI announcement?

by Ross Miller on Jun 25th 2008 8:55PM

Blizzard's new splash page has set the internet on fire. With the developer's Worldwide Invitational set to begin this Saturday in Paris, we've got about three more days to speculate wildly as hundreds of "top secret inside sources that are 110% reliable" feed us tips about the big news.

The top two rumors seem to be Diablo 3 and a Wrath of the Lich King release date, but we think anything's possible -- if you recall, last year's big announcement was Starcraft II. (Our money is on a Wii-exclusive Blackthorne FPS.) Tell us, what do you think is Blizzard's ice-shattering announcement?

What's Blizzard's WWI announcement?
Diablo 3, and it's about time!	4507 (44.5%)
Wrath of the Lich King release date	1921 (19.0%)
Starcraft II release date	881 (8.7%)
Starcraft: Ghost re-announced	347 (3.4%)
Starcraft MMO	322 (3.2%)
Lost Vikings MMO	318 (3.1%)
Rock N' Roll Racing 2	292 (2.9%)
Warcraft IV	323 (3.2%)
Playable Pandarens in WoW	96 (0.9%)
World of Warcraft for home consoles	286 (2.8%)
A movie deal	95 (0.9%)
Nothing ... Surprise!	477 (4.7%)
Other, tell us below	264 (2.6%)

Tags: blizzard, Mac, PC, starcraft, starcraft-2, warcraft, world-of-warcraft, wow, wrath-of-the-lich-king

Reader Comments (92)

I'd say it's a new race/faction for Starcraft 2. Either that or a completely new game altogether?

AHAHAHA, yeah, I couldn't hold THAT one in.

Am I the only one hoping for a new IP. I love all of Blizzard's franchises but I would kill for something new.

SNES Blackthorne released on the Virtual Console.

My friend asked me which exclusive game it would take for me to buy a PS3. After thinking for a minute, my answer was Diablo 3.

As much as I would love a SC2 release date or Diablo 3 announcement those images scream Wrath of the Lich King to me.

It will be Diablo 3. Check this page http://www.eurogamer.fr/article.php?article_id=159047 (it shows that the runes of Diablo are on the splash screen).

Why did you say Blackthorne in the post, and then not include it in the poll?

I'm going Blackthorne. Gotta love the backwards shotgun blast.

I would love to see a new blackthorne...If they kept the gameplay/style similar, they could probably do a ton of cool stuff with current technology.

Am I the only one who thinks a Starcraft MMO would be awesome? Anyone?? No one? Ok. :(

Ok guys seriously I'm 99.9% sure it isn't something related to WoW. The reason why, its because this kind of mystery and hype Blizzard is building would be useless for an already announced expansion, with art and pictures of the game going around the web already.

Diablo 3 is my guess here. But I'm tantalizing for a SC MMO X)

Well, the ice is breaking, so maybe Blizzard is trying to increase awareness of global warming?

I voted for Diablo 3 because that is what I really really really want it to be.

i have a feeling its diablo 3 for one reason. if you have firefox like me and you right click the image on the splash page and hit view backround image, the file is called ice3.jpg. emphasis on the 3. *bows*

Lol. That's because that's the third picture. If you've been following this, the pictures changed 3 times, each becoming clear (if you can call it that) and adding new things. Wowinsider has been documenting it and recording all possible theories.

http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/06/25/blizzards-splash-screen-changes-for-june-25th-reveals-new-rune/

It is a triple announcement! Diablo 3 being the main attraction, Wrath of the Lich King Beta as the previews, and Starcraft II gets dated as the salt & butter for your popcorn!

Your all wrong.. its....

BARD HERO!

Of course, I voted for Playable Pandarens... I have been hoping for them since the day they announced WoW.

everything is a guess at this point.

all theories have basically been thrown out the window :\

To be honest I don't care. Since WoW they seem to act as though every nugget of info they poop out should be met with blind admiration and accolades.

It strikes me as too much hype and bluster over nothing too special. (Or best case... something that might be special a year+ down the road)

False, they played these games before WoW made it big. Now that I think about it, WoW was the first splash screen teaser announcement I remember from them.

It is a tad dramatic yes, but the guessing game is fun and they have earned the cred to pull this kind of thing.

Woblocraft 1!! Duh

They will announce they have assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and are guarding Serbia for the inevitable Austrian-Hungarian retaliation.

Hmm? Worldwide Invitational? What's that?

At the GDC, Rob Pardo said

"So you want me to announce the game before our announcement?" he said. "No offense, but I think there's like 300 people here, and I'll be ripped apart by 8000 people there [at the Invitational] if I pre-announce it - but it's going to be really exciting. I think everybody here will be really excited about the announcement."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/blizzard-to-unveil-new-title-at-worldwide-invitational

So, it's doubtful that it's going to be a release date, or new race, or anything like that.

I voted for Diablo 3, because we all want it. Very, very badly.

how about World of Starcraft? or possibly World of Diablo?

I want to know why the hell it can't be a new IP? Blzzard hasn't made something new in nearly ten years.

I think it will be a new IP for consoles. Personally this would be great, having some sort of MMO on consoles would probebly wipe out any future competition. They wont be announcing a WoW related thing because its already been announced.

As for D3, would be great, might happen, maybe D3 for console? That would be awesome.

Anyway, heres me hoping for a new IP.

Then again, probably not.

After Ghost got put on ice, the console division of Blizzard was absorved by other teams and Blizz's return to consoles was canceled.

They have gone on record saying they intend to stay a PC only developer.[3] Citation Needed.

It's fucking ICE being cracked. What the hell could it be other than something related to Lich King?

If you look now, you can see a pair of eyes peering through the crack. Looks a lot like Arthas' eyes to me.

I know its not Diablo 3, but voted for it just in case.

My guess is its starcraft related.

Dude, I'm with you on this one, but I can't hope to dream. If they released Universe of Starcraft it would either kill WoW, or WoW would kill it.

As much as I would love some sweet firebat MMO action, I think it'll probably just be WotLK news. Don't death nights have runes figuring pretty heavily into their skills?

Hopefully Starcraft 2 new race.

The Starry World of Diablo Craft

On the WOW Insider forums, someone put the runes from Diablo 2 in order and assigned them letters.

Assuming the two hard-to-see ones are Shael and... Eld, with the obvious Hel rune, the runes align to the letters

D B O

COINCIDENCE??

It's Diablo III for sure. At GameTrailers.com there's a video about Blizzard's president (I think) and he's in Korea, talking about how gaming is taken very seriously blablabla. Fast forward between 2:19 and 2:22 and he talks about what his favorite franchise is. They show the "covers" for three: Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo. For Diablo, the cover says (and clear as day, I should add) Diablo 3.

I vote for Diablo in Wrath of the Lich King.

Or any other type of Diablo / WoW hybrid.

It's the other IPs (represented by runes and whatnot) symbolically breaking away to reveal a new IP.

Totally calling it.

The color scheme definitely steers the idea away from Diablo, but apparently fanboys aren't swayed by logic...damn

I haven't played the Diablos and probably wouldn't buy a third one, but I have to say I think the splash screens are Diablo.

The ice is melting and a face is forming behind it. Hell froze over and the devil's breaking out! :)

I voted for Diablo III, but I'm still hoping for a "World of Starcraft"

Diablo II new exp? 1.13 update?

Warcraft Adventures on WiiWare.

All you people bitching about the ridiculousness of running an MMO on a console, specifically off of a Blu-ray disc, do know that these things have harddrives and internet connections just like actual computers, right? If FFXI can work on a console, so can WoW. Don't forget that SOE is putting out The Agency on the PS3 as well.

And all you people bitching about WoW being put onto the PS3 platform... why? They have the largest number of players as it is on computers that putting it on PS3 would pretty much just be reselling it to current players of the game on a different format and requiring about a years worth of hard work in getting it to play on the PS3 OS and with settings capable of recognizing and being tailored for view on a TV. It's not cost effective.

My vote is for something Star Craft related.

Previous 50 Comments

Poll: What's Blizzard's big WWI announcement?

Reader Comments (92)

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