It's a big year for Blizzard Entertainment, with the Warcraft franchise celebrating its 30-year anniversary. The milestone isn't just for World of Warcraft either, but covers the universe of titles including Warcraft, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble. Many titles have come from or been inspired by the initial real-time strategy game, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans on MS-DOS. While World of Warcraft may be the most recognized, it certainly isn't the only one that fans around the world have fallen in love with.
Blizzard has announced that a special Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct will be taking place as a virtual presentation on November 13, 2024, at 10:00 am PST. Following the main Warcraft Direct, there will be an additional stream featuring a "World of Warcraft: 20 Years of Music" concert performed by 190 performers including the 21st Century Orchestra and three choirs: Tale of Fantasy, Ardito, and the Madrijazz Gospel.
Alongside World of Warcraft celebrating its 20th anniversary, the entire Warcraft franchise is holding festivities for the 30th anniversary since the original Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was released in 1994. Celebrations have been taking place across many Blizzard games recently, and are expected to continue for the rest of 2024.
An Event Of News, Music, And Rewards For Warcraft Lovers
For The Warcraft Universe Including Warcraft, World Of Warcraft, Hearthstone, And Warcraft Rumble
Much of what will happen in the Warcraft Direct is being kept as a surprise until the party starts. The only specified information is that the concert celebrating 20 years of World of Warcraft music will take place following the main event and was produced by Helvepic and filmed live in Switzerland.
The information that has caught a lot of attention is that viewing the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct will provide in-game viewership rewards for Hearthstone, Warcraft Rumble, and, of course, World of Warcraft. More details are said to be coming soon, which hopefully will entail more about what these rewards will be and how to earn them. Ideally, these will be rewards given to all viewers and not a select few, but that has not been clarified yet.
Our Take: How The Warcraft Universe Evolved Over The Decades
Plus The Concert Following The Event Should Be Incredible
As someone who has been a major fan of all Warcraft games since the beginning, it is hard to believe that it has been 30 years. So much has evolved and grown from that initial RTS Warcraft game, and there are so many memories to call to mind. Hearthstone has such a unique way of celebrating Warcraft on a daily basis through its card game mechanics. The more recent Warcraft Rumble also brings the franchise to mobile with a bit of a nostalgic feel that is reminiscent of the class Warcraft games.
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Through all of these games and even the internal changes that have taken place in World of Warcraft, there has always remained the connecting tie that keeps everything grounded to Warcraft's original characters and qualities. Celebrating this history could make this Warcraft Direct a memorable event. And, of course, the music from the history of Warcraft has always had an emotionally-charged, epic quality to it, and being able to hear a concert dedicated to it will be a present in and of itself following the special direct for Warcraft.
Sources: Warcraft/Twitch, Warcraft/YouTube, Warcraft/TikTok
