Blizzard Watch WeeklyJan 5, 2026 9:00 am CT

Blizzard Watch Weekly: Welcome to the new year (it’s a lot like the old year)

By Elizabeth Harper

It’s been a quiet week at Blizzard Watch HQ as the winter holidays wind down and we work on winding up to face another long year. The quiet isn’t likely to last, as we have two big World of Warcraft patches landing this month: the Midnight pre-patch for modern and The Burning Crusade pre-patch for Classic Anniversary realms. Blizzard has been relatively radio silent over the holiday season, but I expect we’ll see a lot of news this week as staff shake off the holiday doldrums and get ready for launch.

This post is a quick chance to play catch up before the (possible) news deluge this week. Here’s a rundown of what happened last week, and what’s coming up this week.

What happened last week?

After many a delay, we’re getting our first look at Blood Elf and Night Elf housing styles, and we’re pretty excited for our new exterior housing options!
If you still need more Player Housing decor — and everyone needs more decor — Eric put together a great list of decor you can create with the cooking profession. And, yes, they still require lumber. Yum?
Speaking of lumber, we also have some tips to speed up your lumberjack ambitions: here’s our advice for intermediate-level lumber farming.
Fishing is coming to Diablo 4. We’ve known about this for a while, but have only just now managed to overcome our incredulity to write about it.
It’s the new year, so it’s no surprise that the latest Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is the New Year Bash. It’s a cooperative Brawl in which you and your opponent have to work together to break open a piñata, which can be fun of frustrating depending on whether your opponent understands cooperative gameplay.

What’s happening this week (and beyond)

There’s not much on the official calendar this week except the last wave of holiday events coming to an end, plus the start of perennial favorite AGDQ (more on that in a minute). Even if Blizzard doesn’t come out with any big news this week, AGDQ will give us plenty of entertainment.

Through January 6: Diablo 4’s Goblin Greedings event wraps up, so get in your Treasure Goblin killing before the opportunity is gone.
Through January 7: Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland
Through January 7: Diablo 2’s 22 Nights of Terror
Through January 11: Awesome Games Done Quick
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
Through January 31: Diablo 3’s Darkening of Tristram event is back for another year, giving you a chance to relive the joy (?) of original Diablo gameplay with a nostalgia trip through Tristram Cathedral. The event runs through January 31, so you have some time to enjoy this one!
Until they’re gone: BlizzCon 2026 tickets are on sale

Other things we’re playing, watching, and more

One of our favorite events of the year, Awesome Games Done Quick, is now live and runs 24/7 through January 11. This annual video game speedrunning-stravaganza raises money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, and is an overwhelmingly wholesome, joy-filled event. Stop reading this and go watch!
The Epic Games Store has finished with daily freebies, but still has free games! Currently up for grabs are Total War: Three Kingdoms and Wildgate, both available until January 8.
You only have a few more hours to grab these deals! The Steam Winter Sale is live through January 5 at 10am pacific if you want to make some last minute additions to your gaming backlog.
It’s the season for recaps, and so we ran down our top cute animals of 2025.