Blizzard’s Five-Year Bets, Polyarc Shuts Down, and Three Counter-Strike Sweeps

Industry

• Blizzard unveils long-term roadmaps for Diablo 5 and StarCraft amid Xbox restructuring. Blizzard president Johanna Faries stated the studio is publicly committing to Diablo 5 in 2029 and an open-world StarCraft shooter in 2030 to establish shipping confidence and protect creative culture during Xbox's ongoing 1,600 rolling layoffs. Read more →
• Moss developer Polyarc closes down after 12 years in VR gaming. The Seattle-based independent studio announced active development has wound down after struggling to achieve long-term commercial sustainability across the broader virtual reality ecosystem despite critical acclaim for Moss and Moss: Book II. Read more →
• PlayStation dropped Kojima's Physint over ballooning budget and missed milestones. Reporting indicates Sony withdrew from funding the tactical espionage title following schedule delays and unaligned PC revenue strategies, enabling Xbox to step in as publisher and backer across gaming and transmedia adaptations. Read more →

Releases and updates

• Diablo 4 is ending annual paid expansions to prioritize narrative seasons leading into Diablo 5. Blizzard confirmed Lord of Hatred marks the action-RPG's final full expansion, pivoting ongoing development to quarterly story seasons and the upcoming Amazon class in early 2027. Read more →
• Warcraft 3: Reforged hides two unannounced bonus levels inside Forsaken Kingdom. Senior manager Brad Chan revealed the newly launched campaign includes two secret challenge levels that have remained undiscovered by the player base following BlizzCon's opening weekend. Read more →
• Blizzard outlines open-world Terran Marine direction for StarCraft 2030. Franchise lead Dan Hay confirmed the project is a single-character third-person shooter pitting a lone marine against reactive factions across an expansive sci-fi landscape. Read more →

Esports

• Legacy swept G2 3–0 to claim the FISSURE Playground 3 championship in Suzhou. The Brazilian lineup dominated the best-of-five grand final across Ancient (13-9), Mirage (13-10), and Dust2 (13-4), with Bruno "latto" Rebelatto earning tournament MVP honors. Read more →
• M80 defeated Luminosity 2–0 to take the Roman Imperium Cup VIII trophy. The North American squad secured twin 13-10 wins on Dust2 and Cache in Vila Nova de Gaia to capture their third LAN title of the year. Read more →
• Virtus.pro swept HOTU 3–0 to qualify for the $1,000,000 Thunderpick World Championship. Following a lower-bracket run through HEROIC and FOKUS, VP completed their grand final sweep (16-14 Dust2, 13-6 Anubis, 16-13 Ancient) to lock a Malta LAN spot and enter the VRS top 30. Read more →