What happened with Blizzard games in China?

The Infinite Pirate Dragon is, of course, the top story this week on the Blizzard Watch Podcast. It comes in patch 11.1.7 as a part of Turbulent Timeways, and while we're unsure that it has anything to do with the Arathi narratively, that's what headcanon is for. Our resident Diablo expert Liz Patt joined our regular hosts Matt, Liz, and Joe to explain the mess that is the Diablo 3 seasonal rotation, and also the mess that is Diablo 4's new season and its many, many currencies.We'll wade through rivers of blood and seas of snakes, but we'll be damned if we cave to your attempt to get us to do algebra.If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our hosts Liz and Joe were joined by our writer Eric O'Dea to discuss all the wacky hijinks they got into this year, as they drag an orphan into havoc and harm. That's right, it's Childrens' Week in World of Warcraft! And of course the reason we'd willingly interact with children is the fact that there's transmog on the line. Transmog is also on the line in the new Trading Post for May. We got a new preview of decor for our Player Housing, which, when you think about it, is really just transmog for a house. Plus, we have a new Diablo 4 season, and a new mini-set coming up for Hearthstone, and... could those also be transmog, if you think about it? Probably not, but you can't blame us for trying. If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cory Taylor joins our usual hosts for this week's cotillion of a podcast, and the first thing on the agenda is to remind people to get their Noblegarden ducky costume! Transmog and costuming is very important to us. But, then we get into the usual topic du jour when Cory joins the crew: how Heroes of the Storm is primed for a comeback. Cory, as usual, makes a very compelling argument that Blizzard's MOBA is just sleeping on a farm upstate and is definitely making a triumphant return anytime now, for real. Plus, Overwatch 2 Stadium released and the motion sick among us are cautiously optimistic that they won't hurl. It uses a similar perspective to a zoomed out version of Elder Scrolls Oblivion, and we're just going to take a big swig of water before we read the next bullet point here...Also, Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3. No, I will not be elaborating.If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Puzzling Cartel Chips and the mystery of them leads off the Blizzard Watch Podcast this week. We're not exactly sure what the deal with them is -- hence the whole "mystery" thing -- but we're looking forward to figuring it out. Noblegarden is coming up so it's time to collect some new ducks in a six year long process, and no we're not kidding. We hope you like Joe rants because there's a doozy in this week's episode (he is stanchly anti-mythic plus boss stealth buffs). Plus, the upcoming Mists of Pandaria Classic beta has us answering conclusively that yes, we are in fact the baddies.If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patch 11.1.5 for World of Warcraft was just announced as coming out April 22, so that leads the podcast this week — even if it may seem fast to some of our hosts. Our writer Nick Marino joined us this week because he’s our go-to staffer for WoW Classic news, and Season of Discovery phase 8 kicked off today with a whole lot of brand new content. Seems a little weird, but as long as it’s fun. Plus, despite it being April, the Diablo 4 team just put out a roadmap for 2025 which includes a ton of new content for the coming year, and a few sections just labelled “IP collabs.” Our hosts speculate that this may mean Master Chief makes an appearance, but after what we’re seeing from Fortnite, I’m hoping to get a Chappell Roan skin for my Sorceress.Oh right, the Nintendo Switch 2 release date announcement happened too.If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a short apology for his scratchy voice, Matt leads the cohosts in discussion on a number of topics. Since Cory was the guest host this week, adorable mobile game Warcraft Rumble and its expensive Arthas bundle was a big part of the conversation. So was the April Fools' Day jokes we were treated to on that day -- some of our cast are quite anti prank, others are pro. Plus, the ZeniMax Union authorized permission for their workers to strike, and we discuss the implications for the industry at large.If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hearthstone's new expansion Into the Emerald Dream was our lead story this week, as the two sides don't seem all that well balanced between good and morally gray, let's say. The team also discusses the morality of the character restores coming to OnlyFangs and other WoW Classic Hardcore players after a DDOS KOed their dreams of glory.Plus, Slay the Princess is one of several games up for a Nebula Award -- but that name has to be a typo, right?If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It probably isn't a huge surprise that our hottest topic this week was the World of Warcraft player housing preview. We also discussed how the Race to World First played out, and how this Race differed from past races. Plus, WoW Classic is getting its own new content in the form of the Scarlet Enclave, which seems cool -- if a little outside the scope of what you'd think for WoW Classic. And since Cory joined us this week, we got a healthy dose of copium as always with Warcraft Rumble updates and Heroes of the Storm, uh, news.If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe started off the podcast this week eating crow as he reflected on his prior assertion that BlizzCon would never happen again. But, Blizzard announced that BlizzCon returns September 12-13 2026. He's not mad at all, just surprised -- as all our hosts were.After that, it's a little tough to focus on everything else that happened this week. The Race to World First is still on in Liberation of Undermine, Brann getting a nerf in Delves -- but, come on, BlizzCon! The chat about Diablo 4's announced difficulty boost to Torment brought us back into gory reality a bit.Plus, we discuss the BAFTAs survey on the most influential game of all time, and what our picks might be.If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's show started off with The War Within season 2. We discussed how we feel about Undermine now that we've had a week in the zone, though Liz noted the patch added a ton to do outside the zone, too. All the co-hosts are now on the record as emphatically pro jazz, and also pro Race to World First, which officially kicked off as the season did. Diablo events and why they're too short (maybe to even bother with them at all) were a hot topic this week, with the week-long Gilded Goblins event going on now, but blink and you've probably already missed it.Also, some of us are really pumped for the Visual Novel Fest on Steam this week. Guest host Phil Ulrich named off some of his favorites, which led Liz down a rabbit hole. Everything from Hatoful Boyfriend to Coffee Talk to Boyfriend Dungeon to Monster Prom was mentioned, and lots of other titles in between. Plus, some of us have a bone to pick with a particular BAFTA nominee short list.If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!If you have a few minutes, please fill out our survey to tell us what you think about the podcast. This data is collected by our podcast host, Acast, and will be used to help us improve the show as well as attract potential sponsors. Your answers are completely anonymous. We appreciate your help!If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.