During the opening minutes of the Blizzard Warcraft Invitational, Back2Warcraft caster and community figure Jannes "Neo" Tjarks sat down with Pete Stilwell, the Senior Producer of Classic Games at Blizzard. During their conversation, Neo asked for a date for when patch 1.29 will go live, and the date given was much quicker than popular community expectations.

The last Warcraft 3 PTR took around 6 months after it's release to go live but Stilwell confirmed that this patch will be released "mid to late March". 

Then, in what appeared to be an unscripted question, Neo became the community MVP and asked directly what the status on Warcraft 3 remastered was, citing a prior interview in which Stilwell said that the game wasn't "ready" for remastered yet. The implication was that, if big patches like this are steps to make a better Warcraft 3, is the game becoming "more ready" for remaster?

 Stilwell answered professionally:

"We aren't planning on discussing any plans of that nature today ... 1.29 I think is amazing and is a step of progress that, hopefully, feels meaningful and shows the community how dedicated we are and that there are more great things to come."

After artfully fending the question, the first match between Insomnia and Tak3r began, kicking off the tournament. It's unclear whether any official announcements will be made during the rest of the two-day tournament, but fans eager for information may find Stilwell's use of the word "today" as another sign of hope towards a future involving Warcraft 3 remastered.