Hearthstone Locks Reign of the Black Empire Expansion for October 20 at BlizzCon 2026, Confirms Monk Class for March 2027

Blizzard used the BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony on September 12 to anchor Hearthstone's next year around the Old Gods, locking the Reign of the Black Empire expansion for October 20 and announcing that a brand-new Monk class will arrive in March 2027 as the game's first new playable class in six years.

Reign of the Black Empire is themed around the earliest age of Azeroth, long before the Old Gods were imprisoned, and centers on a new Assemble keyword that lets players merge two cards into a stronger one. According to Hearthstone executive producer Nathan Lyons-Smith, the expansion takes players back to a pre-imprisonment era and leans into combinations the team has not been able to print before. The cinematic trailer shown on stage sets the tone for an expansion built around corruption, experimentation and the slow build of the Black Empire itself.

Before Reign of the Black Empire lands, Battlegrounds will add a new minion type called Aberrations on September 22, born out of Old God corruption and experimentation, giving the auto-battler mode its own anchor in the expansion's themes. The same reveal window also introduced a revamped Journal feature that pulls every quest, achievement and event into a single in-game record tied to the story of each expansion, so players can follow their progression over time.

Looking further out, Blizzard confirmed that the Monk class is coming to Hearthstone in March 2027 as the game's first new class since Demon Hunter in 2021. The team describes the Monk as fluid and adaptable, leaning into the class fantasy Blizzard has used across World of Warcraft and Diablo. The full Hearthstone slate for the next year — expansion, Battlegrounds update, Journal, and new class — was laid out in one block during the Opening Ceremony, with more details expected on the official Hearthstone news channel as dates draw closer.

Find the announcement on Blizzard's Hearthstone news hub, with the broader BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony recap available on Xbox Wire.