Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment esports games

Blizzard Entertainment has quite a catalog of games under its product portfolio. Since its inception, Blizzard Entertainment has developed 22 games, with three of them under its former name Silicon & Synapse. Nineteen of the total number of games were developed under Blizzard Entertainment.

List of Blizzard Entertainment games:

Below is the list of games developed by Blizzard Entertainment.

The Death and Return of Superman

Death and Return of Superman gameThe Death and Return of Superman is a beat ‘em up video game that was developed based on DC Comic’s “The Death of Superman.” The game was originally released in 1994 and featured many characters from the comics, like Cyberborg Superman, Doomsday, Superboy, and Superman himself.

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Warcraft: Orcs & Humans

WOW Orcs and HumansWarcraft: Orcs & Human is a real-time strategy game that was first released for MS-DOS in North America on November 15, 1994, and for Mac OS two years later. The video game was the first release of the famous Warcraft series.

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Justice League Task Force

Justice League Task Force gameJustice League Task Force is a multi-player competitive fighting game that was developed by Blizzard Entertainment and published by Sunsoft in April 1995. It was released for both the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis.

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Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness

WOW 2Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness was the first sequel to the real-time strategy game, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. It was released on December 9, 1995, for MS-DOS, Mac OS, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation (1997) and in 1999 for Windows operating system. Five expansion packs of the game were released thereafter, including W!Zone (1996), W!Zone II: Retribution (1996), Warcraft II: Battle Chest (1996), Warcraft II: The Dark Saga (1997), and Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition (1999).

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Diablo

DiabloDiablo is an action role-playing game that was self-published by Blizzard Entertainment on January 3, 1997, for Windows, and released in 1998 for Mac OS and Playstation.

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The Lost Vikings 2

Lost VikingsThe Lost Vikings 2 was part of The Lost Vikings series and was released on February 27, 1997, for MS-DOS, Windows, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was also titled Lost Vikings 2: Norse by Norsewest or Norse by Norse West: The Return of Lost Vikings in some versions.

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StarCraft

StarcraftStarCraft is a real-time strategy game self-published by Blizzard Entertainment on March 31, 1998, for Windows. The Mac OS and Nintendo versions were released in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

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Diablo II

Diablo 2 LogoDiablo II is part of the Diablo series and was first released on June 29, 2000, for Windows and Mac OS. An extension pack was developed for the action role-playing video game, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (2001).

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Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

WOW 3Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, as the name implies is the third sequel of the Warcraft series. The real-time strategy game was released for Windows and Mac OS on July 3, 2002.

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World of Warcraft

WOWWorld of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, self-published by Blizzard Entertainment on November 23, 2004, for Windows and Mac OS. Eight expansion packs were developed, including World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (2007), World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (2008), World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (2010), World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (2012), World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (2014), World of Warcraft: Legion (2016), World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth (2018), and World of Warcraft: Shadowlands (2020).

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    • World of Warcraft Arena World Championship (AWS)

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is part of the StarCraft esport series and was self-published by Blizzard Entertainment on July 27, 2010, for Windows and Mac OS. Two expansion packs were developed, including Blizzard: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013) and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (2015) in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

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    • StarCraft II World Championship Series

Hearthstone

Hearthstone esports is a digital collectible card game that builds on the lore of the Warcraft series, using its relics and characters. The multi-player video game was released on March 11, 2014, for Windows, Mac OS, iOS, and Android.

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Heroes of the Storm

Heroes of the Storm is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena game self-published by Blizzard Entertainment on June 2, 2015, for Windows and Mac OS.

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Overwatch

Overwatch esports is a first-person shooter video game that was self-published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 24, 2016. It was also released for Nintendo Switch in 2019.

Diablo Immortal

Diablo Immortal is the most recent sequel to the Diable series as it was released on June 2, 2022. The action role-playing video game will be released on iOS and Android in the nearest future.

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As Silicon & Synapse

Before the name change to Blizzard Entertainment, the following games were created under its previous name Silicon & Synapse.

RPM Racing

RPM Racing is a racing game that was first released in November 1991. It was a remake of the Racing Destruction Set originally made by Electronic Arts in 1985.

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The Lost Vikings

The Lost Vikings is a puzzle platform game that was originally released in the company’s second year of existence (1992). The side-scrolling platform adventure allows players to alternate control of three Vikings. Players will guide each of the characters from the start point to finish in each level.

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Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing

Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing is yet another racing game created under Silicon & Synapse that was originally intended to be a sequel to RPM Racing. It was first released on June 4, 1993, remastered, and published in 2021 as part of the Blizzard Arcade Collection.

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Upcoming Blizzard Entertainment esports releases

There are, however, some proposed titles that are yet to be released with no clear date in sight. Proposed upcoming titles on Blizzard include;

Diablo IV

Diablo IV, will be the fourth sequel to the Diablo series and is to be self-published by Blizzard Entertainment.

Blizzard Entertainment major events 2023

Blizzard Entertainment are the overlords of many of the biggest esports events on the calendar, with some of the key dates for 2024 being:

  • Overwatch League

    The Overwatch League prides itself as the first major global esports league to feature city-based teams. Although the tournament was founded in 2017, it had its inaugural season in 2018 with London SpitFire as the inaugural champions.

    OverwatchThe Overwatch League is organized by Blizzard Entertainment and operated by Major League Gaming, a sister company. The league consists of 20 teams divided by location into two conferences, East and West. The East features eight (8) teams, while the West features 12 teams.

  • Hearthstone Masters

    Formerly known as the Hearthstone World Championship Tour, Hearthstone Masters is a three-tiered tournament system. The Hearthstone Masters has been in existence since 2014 and consists of three concurrently-running tournaments with an enormous prize pool.

    The Hearthstone Masters tournaments are:

    • Hearthstone Masters Qualifiers
    • Hearthstone Masters Tours
    • Hearthstone Grandmasters

    Eight successful players will advance to the Hearthstone World Championship and battle for a slice of the prize pool of US$500,000 at the end of every year. The tournament is hosted annually within a special weekend at BlizzCon.

  • Overwatch World Cup

    The Overwatch World Cup is an international Overwatch esports tournament organized by Blizzard Entertainment. The tournament holds annually at Blizzard’s BlizzCon with an ever-changing format. It has been held every November since its inception in 2016, except for the past two years owing to the pandemic.

    South Korea are the leading winner, having won the title three consecutively, except for the 2019 title won by the United States. China has made it to the Finals twice but is yet to win the title.

  • StarCraft II WCS

    The StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) commenced in 2012 by Blizzard Entertainment. The professional tournament series is played using the StarCraft II game developed by Blizzard.

    The tournament ceased to exist in 2020 as Blizzard announced the creation of a new professional circuit, the ESL Pro Tour StarCraft II (EPT) which is run by ESL and Dreamhack but the prize is funded by Blizzard.

  • World of Warcraft Arena World Championship

    World Of WarcraftThe World of Warcraft Arena World Championship (AWC) is organized by Blizzard Entertainment and introduced in 2012. The tournament is the championship for World of Warcraft tournaments and is currently in its 15th edition. The glory awaits those who want it the most, and as such, qualifying teams battle for the chance to be the world champion with action-packed gameplay of World of Warcraft.

Blizzard Entertainment history

Blizzard Entertainment prides itself in being an American video game publisher located in Irvine, California. While the parent company, Activision Blizzard’s history dates back more than 40 years, Blizzard Entertainment was founded in 1991.

Blizzard was initially known as Silicon & Synapse and was founded by three UCLA graduates; Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce. All three founders Of Blizzard Entertainment were interested in electronic gaming and as such, the company’s early offerings involved the conversion of existing gaming titles for personal computer systems.

Silicon & Synapse
Original ‘Silicon & Synapse’ Logo

The company, however, created and released a few of its original titles, such as The Lost Vikings, which was first released in 1992, and Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing (1993). A change of name was effected in 1993, the company became Chaos Studios Inc.

But shortly before the release of what became its flagship product, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994, the company’s name suffered yet another change to Blizzard Entertainment after being acquired by the distributor Davidson & Associates. In 1995, going by the success of the title, a sequel was released, Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness. The sequel was a graphical expansion of the original with a number of improvements implemented.

Blizzard Entertainment has since then developed a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft (WoW), multi-million selling video game franchises such as Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch, alongside several Warcraft sequels. The games are operated via an online gaming service, Battle.net.

In 2008, Blizzard Entertainment merged with Activision Inc. to form Activisiony Blizzard. Aside from the development, and distribution of video games on mobile devices, game consoles, and personal computers, the company is also involved in the organization of esports leagues, alongside the sales of digital advertising and in-game content.

Blizzard Entertainment ownership and stock prices

Blizzard Entertainment is a public traded company under Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) on the NASDAQ. In the last fiscal year ending December 30, 2021, the brand generated a 29.83% profit margin.

The largest shareholder of Activision Blizzard is Berkshire Hathaway Inc., with an 8.23% stake in the company. The Vanguard Group Inc are closely behind with a stake of 7.73% and BlackRock Fund Advisors at 5.00%.

As of July, 2022, ATVI traded at US$77.15 per share with a $0.92 increase from its closing position on July 14. Over the last four weeks, the company gained 1.18% but experienced a 15.92% fall in price over the last year.

How to bet on Blizzard Entertainment esports games

Blizzard Entertainment are the creators of some of the biggest esports games on the planet, with these including Overwatch and World of Warcraft. Esports betting sites will launch odds well in advance of all of the major Blizzard Entertainment events, while there will also be head to head odds for many of the biggest matches. Generally there will only be markets available at bookies if it is a professional Blizzard-backed esports tournament or league. Most of the top online bookie sites have also got esports betting apps available, which is a very convenient way to bet on Blizzard Entertainment esports games. The best betting sites for Blizzard Entertainment esports are:

United States Top betting sites for Blizzard Entertainment games

Top betting sites for Blizzard Entertainment games

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