BlizzCon

BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch.

The first BlizzCon was held in October 2005, and since then, all of the conventions have been held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, in the same metropolitan area as Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine. The convention features game-related announcements, previews of upcoming Blizzard Entertainment games and content, Q&A sessions and panels, costume contests, and playable versions of various Blizzard games. The closing night has featured concerts by The Offspring, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters, Ozzy Osbourne, Blink-182, Metallica, Linkin Park, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Muse. A similar event was the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, held outside the U.S. from 2004 to 2008.

Pricing

Tickets for the BlizzCon events in 2005, 2007 and 2008 were US$100 for admission to both days of activities.In 2009, the price was raised to $125. For 2010, the price was raised to $150. For 2011, the price was raised to $175 and for 2013 the price remained at $175.For 2014, the price was raised to $199 and the BlizzCon Benefit Dinner went from $500 to $750, which includes admission. From 2015 to 2018, the prices have remained at the 2014 level.

The ticket price includes a goody bag that contains items such as in-game prizes, beta keys for upcoming Blizzard games and exclusive Blizzard paraphernalia.

BlizzCon was not held in 2006, 2012, The event was also cancelled in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.The event was also not held in 2022, during the period which Activision Blizzard was under legal litigation related to workplace harassment issues by federal and state agencies; Blizzard stated that instead of holding the event, they will be using the time "supporting our teams and progressing development of our games and experiences".

2017

On March 14, Blizzard Entertainment announced that BlizzCon 2017 would be held on November 3 and 4, with tickets being available to purchase on April 5 and 8 using the ticketing service Universe. A third round of tickets were sold on July 5 due to the convention center adding a new hall.The prices for both admission and the benefit dinner remained at $199 and $750 respectively. On September 13, 2017, Virtual Tickets began being sold; this ticket included a faction-specific flying mount in World of Warcraft, and other special items in the various Blizzard games.

Blizzcon 2017 had a record number of more than 35,000 attendees due to a recently completed expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center.

On October 26, 2021, amid, but without specifically mentioning ongoing litigation against the company over its workplace culture and treatment of female employees, Blizzard announced that the previously announced "global event" had been "paused", and that it would "take the time to reimagine what a BlizzCon event of the future could look like.

In May 2023, Blizzard announced that BlizzCon will be held from November 3–4, 2023.