BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony: Start Time, How To Watch, And What To Expect

It’s almost time for the first BlizzCon event in two years, as Blizzard prepares to celebrate its past, present, and future with its traditional opening ceremony. This leads into two days of panels and interviews, as Blizzard talks about its biggest franchises, ranging from Warcraft to Overwatch. If you’re not planning to make a trip to Anaheim to watch the show in person, the good news is that you can enjoy it from the comfort of your home. Here’s a breakdown of when you can tune in for all the announcements.

How to watch the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony

You can watch a livestream of the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony through Blizzard’s official YouTube, Twitch, and Battle.net channels.

When to watch the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony

The show kicks off at the following times on September 12, and it’ll run for roughly 75 minutes.

10:30 AM PT
1:30 PM ET
5:30 PM GMT
6:30 PM BST
7:30 PM CET
2:30 AM JST (September 13)
3:30 AM AEST (September 13)

Will the BlizzCon 2026 musical performance be livestreamed?

Nope, the musical performance will be exclusive to BlizzCon 2026 attendees. This year’s headline act features K-pop group Le Sserafim, and international music duo Yoasobi will perform during BlizzCon’s first-ever esports halftime show in the Overwatch World Cup Arena.

What to expect

We’ve got a detailed breakdown of our expectations for BlizzCon 2026, but to sum it up, we’re expecting Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch to be in the spotlight. Blizzard is already teasing something for StarCraft, with most fans predicting that we could see a StarCraft shooter revealed or Nexon potentially developing the next entry in the franchise. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Diablo, so we wouldn’t be too surprised to see the legacy games celebrated and maybe even a first look at a new Diablo 4 expansion.

For Overwatch, we’re expecting Blizzard to focus more than ever on the game’s competitive side, so a reveal trailer for the next playable hero and a look at how the current Reign of Talon storyline will conclude look pretty likely. Over in Azeroth, the reveal of a new World of Warcraft expansion is also an easy bet. BlizzCon has been a launching ground for multiple WoW expansion reveals in the past, so we’re getting our popcorn ready for when the company drops a cinematic trailer for The Last Titan. There might also be a new version of WoW Classic shown off, but overall, it looks like Blizzard fans are in for a bumper show to help kick off the BlizzCon weekend.