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Blizzard Launches New Apple TV App for Streaming Video During BlizzCon 2018

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Blizzard this week introduced an all-new Apple TV app that will allow fans to stream content from BlizzCon 2018 on their 4th or 5th generation Apple TV. For those who can't make it to the Anaheim, California event in person, Blizzard has always provided numerous ways for users to watch panels and videos live (on mobile and BlizzCon.com), but this marks the first year the company has built an app specifically for Apple TV.

blizzcon-tv-3.jpg

While the app and some of its content are free, to get the most out of BlizzCon TV [Direct Link] you'll need to purchase a $49.99 "Virtual Ticket" from Blizzard. This allows you to unlock all of the content to stream on BlizzCon TV, including original BlizzCon video content, a Community Night, the BlizzCon 2017 video archive, and live panel coverage. The Virtual Ticket also unlocks access to in-game items for Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, StarCraft: Remastered, Heroes of the Storm, and Diablo III.

blizzcon-tv-1.jpg

The BlizzCon TV home screen on Apple TV shows upcoming events, live and on-demand videos, content broken down by various Blizzard games, and more. There's a dedicated e-sports tab, which has already kicked off with content for Heroes of the Storm and StarCraft II, and will see World of Warcraft and Overwatch tournaments begin next week. Blizzard has the full BlizzCon 2018 schedule on its website, and viewers can prepare for opening ceremony events to kick off on Friday, November 2.

Besides the introduction of an Apple TV app, Blizzard is supporting AirPlay and Chromecast streaming from the BlizzCon mobile app to compatible devices for the first time in 2018. Fans will also be able to watch portions of the show live through the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app, so they can chat with friends as the event happens. There's also a BlizzCon TV app for Amazon Fire TV users.

blizzcon-tv-2.jpg

This marks the first Apple TV app developed by Blizzard. The company has created plenty of iOS apps, including a port for Hearthstone, a companion app for World of Warcraft, and an app for the Overwatch League. In 2017, there were numerous rumors surrounding the potential launch of Overwatch on macOS, but they were tenuous and it's now been nearly a year since one of Blizzard's engineers said there are "no plans" for the launch.

You can download BlizzCon TV for Apple TV today by searching for the app on the tvOS App Store, or using the Siri Remote.

Article Link: Blizzard Launches New Apple TV App for Streaming Video During BlizzCon 2018
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/26/blizzard-blizzcon-tv-apple-tv/
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

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Nov 26, 2007
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Confirmation that we're getting an RTS on iOS?

I have ideas for how to control StarCraft 2 on iOS... it wouldn't be fair to pitch you against mouse and keyboard players, but I think you could see a comparable number of meaningful actions per second.
 
K

kcslc

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Aug 30, 2018
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The only thing I want from the BlizzCon virtual ticket is that demon hunter Sombra skin... but I’m not paying $50 for that, no sir.
 
CWallace

CWallace

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As I am attending in person, I get a Virtual Ticket as part of the package and I am really pleased to see an AppleTV app this year as I watch panels I missed later when I get home.
 
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duervo

duervo

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ArtOfWarfare said:
Confirmation that we're getting an RTS on iOS?

I have ideas for how to control StarCraft 2 on iOS... it wouldn't be fair to pitch you against mouse and keyboard players, but I think you could see a comparable number of meaningful actions per second.
Click to expand...

Diablo 4 will be the big announcement this year.

It’s the one IP from them lacking any eSports element right now. eSports is big bucks for Blizzard. Following the money suggests (to me) that their big announcement this year will be a Diablo 4 one with some sort of eSports tie-in, like PvP support.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

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duervo said:
Diablo 4 will be the big announcement this year.

It’s the one IP from them lacking any eSports element right now. eSports is big bucks for Blizzard. Following the money suggests (to me) that their big announcement this year will be a Diablo 4 one with some sort of eSports tie-in, like PvP support.
Click to expand...

Diablo has never really struck me as a competitive game... I feel like changing the mechanics until you have a competitive game just leaves you with a clone of DoTA or HoTS (which, HoTS is already theirs, so why would they bother?)

RTS games can definitely have eSports... I'd say the original StarCraft (well, Brood War) is the original eSport. We're long overdue for a new RTS. Support for StarCraft 2 has been... OK... but the core game is now over 8 years old, and unlike WoW, it's not like its been getting major improvements in that time.
 
M

Mabus51

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duervo said:
Diablo 4 will be the big announcement this year.

It’s the one IP from them lacking any eSports element right now. eSports is big bucks for Blizzard. Following the money suggests (to me) that their big announcement this year will be a Diablo 4 one with some sort of eSports tie-in, like PvP support.
Click to expand...
Hope Diablo 4 is announced. But I read another story that Blizzard has already stated there is nothing to show or announce regarding Diablo 4 at BlizzCon this year. Also read a conflicting story stating that multiple Diablo projects are being worked on some due out before the end of the year. We know one is the Switch port of 3. So maybe another is regarding Diablo 1 & 2 remastered.
 
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nvmls

nvmls

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Sadly mac support on their games is still quite subpar.
 
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star-affinity

star-affinity

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nvmls said:
Sadly mac support on their games is still quite subpar.
Click to expand...

I'd say it has been good during the past, but seems to have gone down a bit as of late. But I think Apple has part in it, not giving OpenGL any attention in OS X/MacOS for several years (stuck on OpenGL 4.1 since OS X 10.9 Mavericks). But since we have Metal on MacOS I think Blizzard has better tools to bring Overwatch to MacOS. But I'm sure it takes time to do so. Overwatch is using Direct X 11 on Windows (I think).
 
CWallace

CWallace

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WoW is on Metal and HotS offered a Metal Beta for a time. Diablo III and Battle.net were ported to 64-bit code, as well.

A possible future hope is Vulkan now being ported to macOS by the developer so that might help alleviate the pain of Apple's continued deprecation of OpenGL.
 
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star-affinity

star-affinity

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CWallace said:
WoW is on Metal and HotS offered a Metal Beta for a time. Diablo II and Battle.net were ported to 64-bit code, as well.

A possible future hope is Vulkan now being ported to macOS by the developer so that might help alleviate the pain of Apple's continued deprecation of OpenGL.
Click to expand...

WoW has been on Metal (Metal 1?) for some years, yes. But I think Metal 2 would be needed for Overwatch. Don't take make word for it, though. HotS was on Metal as beta for some time, yes. But it was retracted about a year ago (if I remember correctly).

The Battle.net app seems to be 64-bit, and Diablo III (because you mean 3, right?) too. But Diablo 3 is still on OpenGL. I wonder if that will ever get updated to Metal.

What do you mean by ”Vulkan is now being ported to macOS by the developer”?
 
star-affinity

star-affinity

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