We're still nine months away, but Blizzard Entertainment today confirmed the dates and details for its annual BlizzCon gaming convention, which will be returning again to the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The festivities will run across Friday and Saturday, October 21-22, with looks at what is going on in the worlds of "Diablo," "StarCraft" and "Warcraft."
Blizzard didn't reveal much in the press release beyond promising the expected offerings. Players will be able to put their hands on upcoming games from the developer, presumably including "Diablo 3," which is believed to be arriving later this year. There will also be the usual offering of discussion panels, competitive and casual tournaments, contests, memorabilia and more "to be announced." No ticket information is available just yet; fans are advised to keep checking www.blizzard.com for updates.
BlizzCon has become a pretty big annual event since its 2005 launch. DIRECTV has offered pay-per-view coverage of the show since 2008 and past celebrity guest have included the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Jay Mohr, Patton Oswalt, Video Games Live and, last year, Jack Black and Kyle Gass as Tenacious D.
The show's attendees also always have the joy of Blizzard's swag bag to look forward to. There has traditionally been a "World of Warcraft" item, which was last year joined by a "StarCraft 2" item. Beta access has also been handed out in past years, for "Diablo 3," "StarCraft 2" and "WoW" expansions. Perhaps this year will serve up a demo for one of the coming "StarCraft 2" expansions, probably "Heart of the Swarm." Or maybe Blizzard's plans for the show's major announcements include a new title. You never know... BlizzCon tends to be full of surprises.