BlizzCon 2007

The sights, sounds, impressions, and overall experiences resonating throughout the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center on August 2007 combined to create an event of tremendous excitement, camaraderie, and fun for the BlizzCon attendees, including all of us at Blizzard. Between the entertaining and informative developer panels, the chance to play StarCraft II and the newly announced Wrath of the Lich King expansion, the fast-paced tournament gaming, the imaginative live contest entrants, and the closing-night performances, BlizzCon 2007 proved to be an all-around good time for any Blizzard-gaming enthusiast. We thank everyone who contributed to the festive atmosphere at BlizzCon 2007. Thanks to Jay Mohr, Video Games Live, and Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain for closing the show with style on Saturday night. Thanks also to our many partners and sponsors for helping us put this massive undertaking together. Most of all, thanks to the dedicated gamers whose ongoing support made it all happen in the first place.

Stroke of Midnight: The Burning Crusade Begins Anew

his past Tuesday, January 16, 2007, months of anticipation came to fruition for devoted World of Warcraft players around the world -- especially for the ones waiting in line at The Burning Crusade midnight-opening events. At the stroke of midnight, thousands of dedicated soldiers of the Horde and Alliance -- as prepared as ever -- were finally able to acquire their copy of World of Warcraft's first expansion. Fry's Electronics in Fountain Valley, California was the setting for one of several midnight events where members of the World of Warcraft development team were present. The line stretched around the outside of the warehouse-sized Fry's building and into the bone-numbingly chilly (by Southern California standards) January night. Similar scenes took place at two other Fry's developer-signing locations -- one in Anaheim, CA and one in Sunnyvale, CA. Dressed in costumes, holding signs, but mostly just bundled up securely against the elements, the hardy souls who waited outside took solace in knowing that they would be among the first in California to receive the expansion. Dozens of development team members were there to meet and greet the players and sign autographs on anything Blizzard-related. Posters, guild banners, card-game playmats, T-shirts, art books, an original sealed copy of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, and of course, copies of The Burning Crusade were among the items to receive autographs. Throughout the night, the gamers at these events proudly displayed their zeal for all things Warcraft, in the form of costumes, signs, cheering that was only partially muffled by scarves and coats, impromptu dancing, and some good-natured cross-faction banter. The most hardcore, those who spent the unseasonably cold night outside in tents and sleeping bags, arrived as early as 9:00 PM PST Saturday evening. Numerous media outlets captured it all for posterity with live feeds and camera crews, many of which were interested in interviewing the people in line. In addition to the Fry's Electronics midnight signing events, Blizzard team members were also present at the GameStop/EB Games location at Universal CityWalk in Universal City, CA, near Los Angeles. All told, well over 3,500 people showed up to the events in Southern California, and nearly 3,000 people showed up at the Sunnyvale Fry's in Northern California. Including the Blizzard team members and store employees at each event, as well as the odd murloc and tauren, the midnight launch of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade amounted to a celebration of approximately 7,000 attendees in California alone. However, these events were hardly exclusive to California -- more than 5,000 stores across the United States and Canada were open at midnight for the launch of The Burning Crusade as well. Many other countries joined the party, too, making The Burning Crusade's release an international event. There were midnight openings in Australia and New Zealand, as well as in multiple countries throughout Europe, including huge developer-attended events in Berlin, London, Paris, and Stockholm. If you couldn't make it to the events, the intrepid Gnomeregan Gnews Gnetwork team documented the goings-on at the developer-attended launch events around the world. View part one and part two of their video featurette to get a sense of what it was like.

World Series of Video Games: Dallas Wrap-Up & Pictures

he WSVG tournament in Dallas, Texas has come to an end. We want to thank everyone who stopped by the Blizzard booth and participated in the leveling race and Stratholme race competitions. The event was a great place for players to meet up, get to know each other, and play World of Warcraft together. We had a great time chatting with players about the game in-person, and we'd like to again congratulate the winners of the tournaments, listed below: Leveling Contest loboniga (9 Undead Rogue) vap0r_275 (9 Undead Rogue) Jhawk (9 Undead Warrior) nystrom (9 Orc Shaman) mikej.ortiz (9 Undead Rogue) psylynt (9 Human Rogue) Chacar (9 Human Rogue) M4niAK (9 Troll Rogue) Locudius (9 Troll Rogue) mFizzle (9 Undead Rogue) Stratholme Race Lost - 35:13 Wardette (Human Rogue) Tageris (Dwarf Priest) Terran (Human Paladin) Trystin (Human Warrior) Aldyrin (Gnome Mage) Runners Up » Team Nystrom - 41:12 » Rebirth - 41:39 The photos we took during our time at the WSVG: Dallas event can be viewed by clicking here, and you can also view the photos from our previous appearance at the WSVG: Louisville event here. Stay tuned to WorldofWarcraft.com for more information about our upcoming appearances and tournaments.

World Series of Video Games: Louisville Wrap-Up & Pictures

We'd like to thank the many Blizzard gamers who made the trip to Louisville, Kentucky for the WSVG event last week. It was an exciting weekend of tournaments and events involving StarCraft, Warcraft III, and World of Warcraft. The attending Blizzard team had a great time hanging out with fellow players and hosting the unofficial tournaments in the Blizzard BYOC sections of the event. Congratulations to the winners of those tournaments, listed below: World of Warcraft Leveling Race Winner: Obs, who leveled a Human Rogue to level 10 and change in exactly two hours. World of Warcraft Warsong Gulch Meatgrinder Winner: Clan Ænigma of Burning Legion World of Warcraft Stratholme Race Winner: Clan Ænigma of Burning Legion, who killed the Baron in just over 40 minutes with template characters wearing Dungeon Set 1 Armor. StarCraft: Brood War 1v1 Tournament Winner: verGe.Wizard Warcraft III: 2v2 Tournament Winner: u5.NilknarfLP and u5.Inclnerator DotA All-Stars Tournament Winner: Clan r3 (Junkey, ShaDe, daveyoo, BusCH-TiMe, Covey) A photo slideshow of WSVG: Louisville can be found here. We'd also like to invite Blizzard gamers in the Dallas, Texas area to come join us from July 5-9 at the CPL Summer Championship. For more information, and a special offer for the venue at which the event will take place, please check out our WSVG: Dallas page.

BlizzCon 2005

BlizzCon 2005 was a celebration of the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises and the communities that surround them. This two-day event had Q&A panels featuring the developers of World of Warcraft and StarCraft: Ghost, social events for fans and developers to meet one another, and hands-on gameplay featuring your favorite Blizzard games. A closing night concert brought BlizzCon 2005 to its close. Learn more at the BlizzCon web site.

World of Warcraft iCoke Event in China

World of Warcraft recently launched with amazing fanfare and success in China. Partnering with Blizzard to usher in this blockbuster launch was iCoke, Coca-Cola's name-brand presence in China. In the weeks leading up to and after the launch, iCoke led the way in promoting World of Warcraft, celebrating the game in real-life replicas of Stormwind Castle and Thunder Bluff, creating a joint World of Warcraft and Coca-Cola televised commercial featuring Chinese pop sensation SHE, and unveiling an iCoke-branded World of Warcraft site. The site is in Chinese, but even if you can't read it, it's well worth checking out. Click here to view 80 photos from the event.

Warcraft Manga Meet-the-Author Event

Blizzard's VP of Creative Development Chris Metzen and author Richard A. Knaak were featured speakers at the L.A. Times Festival of Books this past weekend. Their panel discussion centered on their newest project, the first installment in a series of manga titled Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy. After the presentation, fans had a chance to ask Chris and Richard about some of their past collaborations as well as their current manga project. One lucky attendee walked away with a copy of the World of Warcraft Collector's Edition!

World of Warcraft Launch Party Photos

On November 23, nearly 7000 dedicated fans came out to Fry's Electronics in Fountain Valley, California, for a chance to meet the Blizzard development team and be among the first to pick up a copy of World of Warcraft. Due to the impressive turnout, the event stretched into the wee hours of the morning until every last person in line had the opportunity to meet the team and get signatures. We'd like to thank everyone who took the time to attend for making this a special night. Click here and then use the "next" and "previous" buttons to cycle through all 43 pictures from the event.