Blizzard recently released a teaser to their new Overwatch map, set to be released in the upcoming weeks. While we’re all excited for a new game mode, set in a beautiful new surrounding, there are a number of things we may not have caught at first glance when watching the preview last night. Blizzcon is around the corner and Blizzard have been hinting at a couple of updates coming to their titles. Were they hidden in this release? Possibly, but let’s take a closer look.
Many of us are expecting a Diablo announcement this year at Blizzcon. Sorry, let me rephrase that. Many of us are hoping for a Diablo announcement at Blizzcon this year, and it’s likely we might get just that. But are Blizzard hinting at it in the release of Eichenwalde? One can only hope. We know how sneaky they are.
Diablo’s horns
The first thing that struck me was the camera pan over the trophies on the wall. One of them looked perculiar and unlike any animal we would expect see in the world of Overwatch. Is this… can this be Diablo’s head?
Why would they include this? These are Diablo’s horns, and I doubt any German soldier,despite wearing heavy armour, could take down the Lord of Hell. This is perhaps our first hint at something big arriving at Blizzcon this year, but that’s not the only Easter Egg offered in this preview.
Baldrich van Alder, the Skeleton King
Near the end of the preview the camera pans over Baldrich van Alder, the King of Eichenwalde, who fell during the omnic crisis. Here his body lays, still in armour, the skeleton of the King. This looks oddly familiar, no?
On the left in the image above you see Leoric, the Skeleton King, who was corrupted and in turn defeated as you stormed the Cathedral in Diablo 3. Baldrich’s position in his eternal slumber is an almost exact mirror of the Skeleton King, another Easter Egg which cannot be ignored. There’s also the new Reinhardt voice note which was datamined in the recent patch. He says “This is no castle… it’s is a tomb,” perhaps a little too similar to the Crypt of the Skeleton King?
So far these are the only two hints I discovered in the new Overwatch map,while other’s are digging for Sombra clues. Perhaps I’m too invested in the dream that a Diablo expansion is coming and reading into it a little too much. Either way, it’s fantastic how Blizzard pay respect to their titles in the form of Easter Eggs.
Last Updated: August 17, 2016
Admiral Chief
August 17, 2016 at 13:35
Oh ffs, now I’m in the mood to replay Diablo 3
Kromas GG
August 17, 2016 at 13:40
Nope. World of Warcraft!
Lizzard
August 17, 2016 at 13:51
Why not both???
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 13:52
Never divide by zero
Kromas GG
August 17, 2016 at 13:59
Cause my job pays for my games and also stealls all my gaming time. 🙁
Deceased
August 18, 2016 at 10:15
This ^
It’s the worst goddamn conundrum invented 😐
( “Oh, you’ve finally saved up enough money for investing in your hobby… it’d be a shame if, you had no time to spend on your hobby” )
VampyreSquirrel
August 17, 2016 at 13:48
Did you actually finish all 5 acts and get a character to lvl 70?
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 13:49
I think we need to take him for a spin around end game content xD
VampyreSquirrel
August 17, 2016 at 13:55
lvl 1 – 70 in about 10 minutes xD
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 13:56
Then Grift 70
Admiral Chief
August 17, 2016 at 13:57
I’m game
Cat
August 17, 2016 at 15:35
How long does it take a team to get a player to get from level 1-70 on 1 character? I think I got mine to lvl 40 something but took quite a few hours playing by myself.
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 15:37
When a season starts we usually level from 1 to 70 in 8 hours. But when we power level someone who is catching up it takes about 15 min to max level for them.
Jean Newcomb
August 18, 2016 at 03:45
Well it took me like 1 hr and I used my lvl 70 char and used a lvl 1 player and they get more exp cause u r using a higher lvl char
HairyEwok
August 18, 2016 at 08:12
Let him have a taste of torment 10 act 1 starting zone undead.
Ottokie
August 18, 2016 at 08:16
I was thinking more “Torment 13” ish
HairyEwok
August 18, 2016 at 08:23
May Diablo have mercy on his poor soul.
Admiral Chief
August 17, 2016 at 13:58
Nope, only one character I took through D3 and RoS, think level 62, then left the game
VampyreSquirrel
August 17, 2016 at 14:05
I now have 11 lvl 70’s and 1 lvl 69 xD
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 13:37
Diablo 3 expansion is coming!
https://i.makeagif.com/media/11-27-2015/INKKbb.gif
Admiral Chief
August 17, 2016 at 13:42
…cue the otto-doefdoef
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 13:43
just because it aint Jack Parrow right?
Admiral Chief
August 17, 2016 at 13:44
You live close to where he is, so you know him better than I do
😛
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 13:45
Jip. Ek’s die ou met die pepstores broek
Admiral Chief
August 17, 2016 at 13:46
HAHAHA
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 17, 2016 at 14:04
That reminds me, I want some Burger Fair soft serve.
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 14:06
That little place in the corner somewhere in a main road in Skaap stad?
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 17, 2016 at 14:08
Inderdaad. I drive past it every day.
Ottokie
August 17, 2016 at 14:09
I bought my MTB close to there, that’s the only reason I kind-of sort-of know where it is xD
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 17, 2016 at 14:17
I live not even 2km away from it. 😀
HairyEwok
August 18, 2016 at 08:15
I know of it because I have family that lives in the flats behind it T-T
Kromas GG
August 17, 2016 at 13:39
So what? There is a Zerg skull in the egypt map but I have yet to hear of SC3.
It could very well just be an easter egg and nothing more.
I would like a new Diablo though so I hope you are right.
Matthew Holliday
August 17, 2016 at 14:25
zerg skulls, newspaper cuttings and comic books on tables, user portraits.
There are easilly a dozen easter eggs from their previous IPs, I also think theyr just simple easter eggs.
Pariah
August 17, 2016 at 13:52
Leoric first appeared in Diablo 1. 🙂
From the wiki: “Leoric appears in multiplayer games in the first Diablo game in his Skeleton King form. He forms the basis of the quest of the same name. He can be found and fought on the third level of the Tristram Cathedral. He leaves behind his Crown, a Unique item with Life-Stealing properties.”
Also, that crown was BAE.
HairyEwok
August 18, 2016 at 08:18
Started a new season hero… Killed one elite way before you even know about the skeleton king and the elite drops his crown… Then i fight the skeleton king and he also drops his crown, now i have 2 supposedly “unique in lore sense” crowns.
Matthew Holliday
August 17, 2016 at 14:23
There are starcraft and warcraft references everywhere in the game, if anything, diablo lacked representation.
This is just rounding out their easter egg lineup, doubt theres anything deeper than that.
HairyEwok
August 18, 2016 at 08:19
I think so to. Many developers use elements from their previous games to fill blanks in their newer games.
Jean Newcomb
August 18, 2016 at 03:43
I am lvl 70+ barbarian
HairyEwok
August 18, 2016 at 08:11
Baldrich van Alder kinda reminds me of Mordekaiser….
http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/Mordekaiser_0.jpg
Remi Abrahams
August 18, 2016 at 09:04
SIgh these are just Easter Eggs…oh I saw a crowbar in Diablo 3 – Half life 3 Confirmed!!