From ‘World of Warcraft Forever’ Surprise to Le Sserafim, Simu Liu and T-Pain Appearances, How BlizzCon 2026 Set the Stage for Blizzard Entertainment’s Next Era

Back in September, Blizzard Entertainment held its fan convention BlizzCon for the first time since 2023, just after Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft in a blockbuster $69 billion transaction, which signaled a renewed investment in gaming by the software giant, from Sept. 12 to the 13. BlizzCon drew 35,000 in-person attendees to the Anaheim Convention Center and racked up 12.5 million live viewers for the event. Less than two months later, Blizzard is celebrating the launch of “World of Warcraft Forever,” a title first announced on stage during the live show in September to much fanfare. For this week’s episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business,” Jennifer Maas was on the ground at BlizzCon 2026 speaking with Blizzard Entertainment president Johanna Faries, “World of Warcraft Forever” game director Ion Hazzikostas, celebrity attendees including Simu Liu, T-Pain, and the members of K-pop sensation Le Sserafim about the festivities and what this moment means for the future of Blizzard. LISTEN to the full conversation on Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast: “We were even backstage and we’ve seen all the show and all said it feels like we were watching it for the first time all over again because we are finally sharing it with our players in our community,” Faries says, just off the main stage where Blizzard had made a slew of announcements, including “Diablo 5” is coming in spring 2029, a new “StarCraft” open-world shooter is coming in 2030, a Netflix animated adaptation of ‘”Diablo” is in the works, and “World of Warcraft Forever” would be out Nov. 4. “Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Friday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more.