Blizzard announced today that the Warcraft 3: Reforged multiplayer beta will officially begin this week, with special invites going out in waves first to the player who have pre-purchased the game's Spoils of War edition. Warcraft 3: Reforged is a total upgrade of Blizzard's 2002 real-time strategy game Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and the expansion that really launched Warcraft as a brand, Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, which told the story of the Lich King and created one of the Warcraft universe's most popular figures.
If Warcraft 3: Reforged is anything like StarCraft: Remastered, then fans can expect a balance between the careful preservation of in-game mechanics that made competitive players so adept at finding small openings on top of some quality-of-life improvements, not to mention a huge graphics overhaul that will make the game more palatable for modern audiences. StarCraft: Remastered impressed audiences and reignited the esports spark of the Brood War scene to some degree, too, so its possible Blizzard could also kickstart the dormant Warcraft 3 competitive environment with a fresh look. Both approaches - totally overhauling a significant portion of an old favorite or carefully preserving its glitches and style - have worked wonders for the company lately, with WoW Classic fresh in the minds of consumers who now believe nostalgia can be a worthwhile endeavor in modern gaming.
Warcraft 3: Reforged's multiplayer beta will be a big test regarding how the game plays out on modern systems and connections - and, more importantly, if it holds up despite the fresh coat of paint. The Warcraft 3: Reforged multiplayer beta will begin with limited access to the Orc and Human races within 1v1 and 2v2 matchmaking modes. Blizzard announced that plans also call for the Undead and Night Elf races to be added over time, with more game modes following in the weeks after the multiplayer beta begins its testing. Invites will go out in waves even for those who pre-ordered the game's Spoils of War edition, so there will still be a small element of luck involved for those who want to go hands-on with the Warcraft 3: Reforged multiplayer beta first.
The Warcraft 3: Reforged Spoils of War edition will provide perks to players of other Blizzard games, with rewards available for World of Warcraft (the awesome Meat Wagon mount), some new icons and sprays for Overwatch, a pet in Diablo 3, and the Third War card back in Hearthstone. Interestingly, the multiplayer beta testing appears to be beginning concurrently with BlizzCon, which is an interesting choice, given the spotlight it places on Blizzard games. It might make for a relatively sparse first few days of testing with fans paying more attention to the presentations.
Then again, it's not like Blizzard doesn't have very real concerns about the state of BlizzCon 2019. The company is still embroiled in controversy over its stance on Chinese politics, and has canceled several events leading up to BlizzCon for fear of protesting. That will be unavoidable at BlizzCon, and perhaps Blizzard is hedging its bets, attempting to provide a surefire positive response in the Warcraft 3: Reforged multiplayer beta launch to drown out any of the negativity the company is anticipating this coming weekend.
Warcraft 3: Reforged releases on Battle.net on or before December 31, 2019.
Source: Blizzard Blog