Every year Blizzard Entertainment hosts BlizzCon, a major event where fans of the company’s three major franchises, Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft, come together to meet others and hear from the developers. This has traditionally been the time when Blizzard will announce new projects, show off various trailers, and provide a venue for serious and casual computer gaming fans to congregate and compete.
BlizzCon 2011 was held in the Anaheim Convention Center between October 21 and 22 and hosted a range of events and activities throughout the weekend. There were also a number of other exhibitors there that ran their own contests and displayed hardware running some of the newest Blizzard releases. Fans would be able to see exactly what the games would look like running on systems like Digital Storm laptops.
Attendees were able to view and try out some of the latest versions of games, take part in competitive or casual tournaments, and even participate in a range of other contests. The event was filled with activities, tournaments, and discussion panels, so there was never a lack of things to do.
Blizzard also hosted a charity auction that raised money for different organizations, and set up meeting areas for “guild mates” to get together and meet each other in person. The contests sponsored by the company included awards for best costume, best fan art, original song, movie, and dance. The dance and costume contest were held that weekend, but participants had to submit movies, music, and art far in advance of the convention.
The discussion panels included everything from the story behind the new StarCraft 2 expansion, a look at the way music, voice, and other audio components affect the development of a game like Diablo 3, and even how the company manages their other media, like novels, comics, and other published materials.
The major announcements this year included the new expansion for World of Warcraft, called the Mists of Pandaria, and some new trailers for both Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2. In standard Blizzard fashion, though, no specific launch dates were given for either of those two games.
Those fans who couldn’t make it to the event were able to purchase some “virtual tickets” so they could watch the live feed of special events as they happened. The company also recently announced a post-show sale of much of the merchandise that was offered at the convention. Starting November 11, both regular and virtual ticket holders will be able to purchase some memorabilia that is tied to this year’s BlizzCon.
