Heroes of the Storm adds Xal'atath, the game's first new character since 2020

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The Nexus is alive again with this surprise announcement from Blizzcon 2026.

Ozzie Mejia September 12, 2026 10:39 AM Blizzard Entertainment 1

Blizzard's grand celebration of its gaming library kicked off on Saturday with the Blizzcon 2026 Opening Ceremony. Following an opening address from Blizzard Entertainment President Johanna Faries, Blizzard unveiled a surprising revival of one of its more popular titles. Heroes of the Storm is getting a new update for the first time in years, adding Warcraft's Xal'atath to the roster.

This is the first new character to hit Heroes of the Storm since 2020 when Hogger was added to the roster. Blizzard gradually downsized development on its MOBA title, starting with the elimination of its esports division. While updates were still issued, new content slowed significantly until it stopped entirely. At least, it stopped until now.

Xal'atath will come to Heroes of the Storm on September 28. There is much more to come from Blizzcon 2026, so keep it on Shacknews for the latest announcements.

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Ozzie Mejia Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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