Countdown to BlizzCon
BlizzCon, the annual celebration of all things Blizzard Entertainment (namely the behemoth Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo franchises, if you just stumbled onto this article out of the blue, ‘cuz hey, the internet can be crazy like that) starts up tomorrow, November 8th, at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Speculation has swirled around this BlizzCon, what with Blizzard announcing that the Warcraft movie (produced along with Legendary pictures); repackaging their upcoming MOBA, Blizzard All-Stars, as Heroes of the Storm (and releasing some pretty nifty artwork); the Hearthstone game moving into the final stages of its beta, Diablo III heading towards consoles (along with the much anticipated new expansion, “Reaper of Souls,” coming out in 2014); the fact that they just trademarked the name “Warlords of Draenor” (maybe the new MMO they’ve been teasing us with for years?); and the publication just yesterday of a third quarter loss (though not as severe as expected), including the news that the MMO giant, World of Warcraft, lost 100,000 users, resulting in Activision lowering its fourth quarter outlook.
So what does all this mean for the fans who are trekking out to sunny Anaheim for the next two days? Well, hopefully at lot of answers, some awesome unveiling of new content and properties, and maybe a Warcraft trailer?
BlizzCon starts of at 11 a.m. on Friday with the Opening Ceremony on all four stages after which the four areas split into two stages of panels, WCS Global Finals and the WoW Arena Global Invitational. If past BlizzCons are any indication, the main floor will be packed with gaming stations, vendors and, of course, cosplay; there is also an artists’ stage, a voice actor stage and a faction feud area.
Saturday continues with WCS and WoW Arena semis and finals, more panels, and of course the closing ceremony concert (with Blink 182!).
Friday Highlights:
11 a.m.: Opening Ceremony
12:30 p.m.: World of Warcraft: What’s Next
1:15 p.m.: Starcraft II Update
2:15 p.m.: Hearthstone: Fireside Chat
3:30 p.m.: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
4:45 p.m.: Heroes of the Storm Overview
6:00 p.m.: Contests on all stage of various kinds
Saturday Highlights:
11:15 a.m.: Diablo III: Gameplay Systems + Crusader
12:30 p.m.: Heroes of the Storm Deep Dive
1:00 p.m.: Warcraft Movie Presentation
2:30 p.m.: World of Warcraft Q+A About Almost Everything
3:15 p.m.: Diablo III Open Q+A
4:30 p.m.: Epic Cosplay and You
6:30 p.m.: Closing Ceremony
Blizzard will be live streaming the entire event to those who purchased virtual tickets (still available here); the opening ceremony and tournaments are free to anyone at www.blizzcon.com; there is also an app that you can download to ‘experience the second screen.’
We’ll be live-tweeting all weekend, so follow @geekscapedotnet and @sjbwrite for all the breaking news over the weekend!
Tell us what you’re most excited about in the comments!
