Blizzard Watch Weekly: Happy (video game) holiday!

The holiday season will always be light on news as Blizzard shuts down for the winter holidays, but plenty has been going on leading up to our wintery downtime — and there’s certainly lots to do if you like holiday events. So let’s use this post-solstice morning to catch up. Here’s a rundown of everything that’s happened in the last week and what’s coming up this week.

What happened last week?

• We got a release date for the Midnight pre-patch: January 20, which is a little earlier than I expected. The patch includes all of the class changes, a big stat squish, significant UI changes that will break some of our addons for good, the updated transmog system, the new Devourer Demon Hunter spec, and Void Elf Demon Hunters, the only new class/race combination coming in Midnight.
• We also have a schedule beyond the launch, all the way through Season 1. Here’s a rundown of when to expect everything from launch to the last Season 1 raid.
• We know that Diablo 4’s Lord of Hatred expansion will have another new class, so we’re speculating on what that new class could be. (I’m still hoping for Amazon.)
• We’re still hyped about Player Housing, and have some new guides:
  • The best — and easiest — decor rewards you can get from quests
  • How to make your house float
  • How to collect books to fill your bookshelves
  • How to make furniture you can sit on
• This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is The Naughty List, which challenges you to create the worst deck possible… but you also have to play the worst deck possible, so it may not be as fun as you think.

What’s happening this week (and beyond)

It’s the holiday season, and while there aren’t a lot of new events coming up, most games have holiday events running. So jump in and enjoy the holiday cheer while it’s here, because most events wrap up early January.

• Through January 2: WoW’s Winter Veil is now live, and though there’s nothing new this year it’s still an opportunity to be merry and open packages under the tree this year. Also Dimensius is wearing a Santa hat. That’s worth the cost of admission on its own. The holiday is also on in WoW Classic, and will similarly wrap up on January 2.
• Through January 6: Diablo 4’s Goblin Greedings event encourages us to kill more Treasure Goblins without realizing that we need no encouragement. (But we’ll never say no to more rewards.)
• Through January 7: Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland is the same event as always, but it’s a fun event, so jump in.
• Through January 7: Diablo 2’s 22 Nights of Terror event is rather simplified this year, but still a good time.
• Through January 12: Free character transfers are currently available from Classic anniversary realms to other Classic realms for players who don’t want to continue to The Burning Crusade, but you have to make the leap by January 12.
• January 13: The Burning Crusade Classic expansion pre-patch launches on the anniversary realms! (We don’t yet have a confirmed date for the expansion itself.)
• Through January 19: Legion Remix ends, so you have less than a month to collect all of the rewards you want!
• January 20: WoW’s Midnight pre-patch launches
• March 2: WoW’s Midnight expansion launches, so get ready to take on Xal’atath (again).
• Until they’re gone: BlizzCon 2026 tickets are on sale

Other things we’re playing, watching, and more

• ’tis the season for free games. The Epic Games Store has a new freebie every day through January, and we’re keeping a list of all of them. Check in daily for a new free game!
• The Steam Winter Sale is live through January 5, and it’s an excellent time to build up your game backlog with heavily discounted titles.
• The Indie Game Awards closed out awards season, and it’s frankly a must-watch event that will fill you with a love of games and the people that make them. All of the nominees are worth a play, and some of them are discounted for the Steam Winter Sale. However, there’s already some controversy, as after the awards were handed out, Game of the Year winner Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was disqualified for using genAI, and the award has been given to runner up Blue Prince in its stead. It’s fueled a wildfire of internet arguments about what qualifies as AI use, and whether the IGAs did their homework, because the internet never met an argument it didn’t like.

This week’s podcasts

• Blizzard Watch Podcast: The Lord of Hatred is coming to Diablo 4 (and more scary holiday stories)
• Lore Watch Podcast: Diablo Paladins, a history
• Tavern Watch Plays Brindlewood Bay, episode 1: A night at the whaling museum

Thanks for reading everybody and have a happy holiday week, whatever you’re celebrating.