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Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct: How to watch and what to expect

Key art for World of Warcraft: The War Within.
Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment has had an eventful year. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the studio has seen the successful releases of World of Warcraft: The War Within and Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred but also had to deal with mass layoffs and the release of Jason Schreier’s revealing book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. To cap off this hectic year, and in lieu of its traditional BlizzCon event, Blizzard Entertainment is holding a Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct livestream this week.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is the game that put Blizzard on the map, and it was first released on November 15, 1994. Thirty years later, the franchise has expanded with games like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble. Now, Blizzard is going to celebrate them all during a single livestream. It’s something that Warcraft fans will certainly want to tune into. For those interested, I’ve rounded up everything you need to know about how to watch the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct and what you should expect from it.

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When is the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct?

The Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct will begin at 10 a.m. PT on November 13. Blizzard has not said how long the Direct will last, but has confirmed that a World of Warcraft: 20 Years of Music concert will air right after the show concludes.

How to watch the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct

The first showcase of its kind, the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct will air on World of Warcraft’s YouTube channel and the Warcraft Twitch and TikTok channels. As soon as the YouTube premiere for the event goes live, I’ll embed it above so you can watch the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct on this page. On Twitch, Blizzard also plans to give away in-game rewards for World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble to viewers.

30th Anniversary art for the Warcraft franchise.
This is the official 30th Anniversary artwork for the Warcraft franchise. Blizzard Entertainment

What to expect from the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct

“It’s a big year for the Warcraft universe and whether you’re a Hearthstone fan, you’ve joined the chaos in Warcraft Rumble, ventured into the world of Azeroth for the first time in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, or you’re a World of Warcraft player, there’s something for everyone in our Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct stream,” the official description of the event states. It seems like a safe bet to assume that we’ll learn more about upcoming updates for games like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble here.

The biggest question marks surrounding the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct are what surprises Blizzard has in store. One appears to have leaked with Warcraft II Remastered, which seems to be an enhanced version of 1995’s Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. It definitely seems like the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct stream is worth tuning into if you want to learn more about that and other upcoming Warcraft projects.

Tomas Franzese
A former Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese now reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
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