BlizzCon is heading fully online this year to safely celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary. Amongthe numerous talks and panels on the BlizzCon scheduleis nestled a very special event for tabletop fans: the cast of Critical Role, the hit D&D web series, will be coming together with a couple of special guests to run a one-shotDiablo-themed campaign.
According to a Tweet from the official Critical Role Twitter account, the game will be broadcast on February 20th at 2:05pm PST, with host Matthew Mercer joined by regulars Laura Bailey and Liam O’Brien along with special guests Mica Burton and Carlos Luna. Not much is yet known about the content of the show other than it being set in the world ofDiablo, but the official event description on the BlizzCon website suggests that the plucky band of adventurers will be pursuing “something ancient and evil beneath the ruins of Old Tristram.” Whether this will connect in a deeper way to the establishedDiablocanon, oreven to the ephemeralDiablo 4, it remains to be seen.
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Critical Rolehas gained a lot of love over the years from a large and dedicated fanbase, although their invitation to put on a game for the patrons of this year’s digital BlizzCon may even go beyond their enduring popularity. The cast of the show is comprised of professional voice actors, and a number of them have worked on Blizzard products in the past: host Matthew Mercer voicesOverwatch’s McCree, while O’Brien and Bailey have both done work forWorld of Warcraft.
Since its humble beginnings as a one-offDungeons & Dragonsgame, the show has exploded with content that covers Twitch streams, merchandise andeven their own publishing company, Darrington Press. Currently the party is battling across the continent of Wildemount in their secondD&D5th Edition campaign, which began in 2018 and broadcasts weekly. After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, they have resumed their campaign in a socially-distanced studio, from where they will presumably be broadcasting for their BlizzCon show.
There’s plenty more to be seen at this year’s BlizzCon alongside the Critical Role team, though. From the opening ceremony on February 19th onward, the schedule is jam-packed with discussions, Q&A sessions, special matches in the company’s iconic games and more, spread across six dedicated channels covering all of Blizzard’s most important franchises. The 30th anniversary celebrations even covervarious in-game exclusives in titles likeWorld of WarcraftandHearthstone. Big reveals for franchises likeOverwatchmay be thin on the ground at this year’s BlizzCon, but the company have clearly gone to great pains to fill their all-digital, free-to-watch extravaganza with plenty of other goodies.
BlizzCon kicks off at 2:00pm PST on February 19th, and the Critical Role team begins theirDiabloone-shot at 2:05pm PST on February 20th. In the meantime, you’re able to catch them every Thursday at 7:00pm PST on Twitch and YouTube.
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