Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment on YouTube

2009-09-30T22:52:09Z

If you're a fan of Blizzard's cinematics and trailers, but don't really want to download to watch them, you have an alternative. Blizzard today announced the opening of their official YouTube page. Check out the announcement below, or head to http://www.youtube.com/blizzard to begin watching!

Quote from: Bornakk (Source)

The new official Blizzard Entertainment channel on YouTube is now live! http://www.youtube.com/blizzard

Check out high-quality streaming versions of our cinematics, gameplay trailers, and in-game movies. Make sure to come back often, as we will be adding even more video content in the weeks ahead.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/blizzard

New Blizzard Entertainment Website Now Live

2009-09-30T19:58:46Z

It looks like Icecrown Citadel isn't the only news of the day, as Blizzard has announced the release of their redesigned Blizzard.com. Check out the blue post on the topic below, or head over to http://www.blizzard.com to check out the website for yourself!

Quote from: Bornakk (Source)

Welcome to the newly redesigned Blizzard.com! Featuring a brand-new design, this website is the focal point for all official Blizzard Entertainment news, press releases, and much, much more.

Games section: The updated games section includes links to our current projects as well as detailed information for all of our previously released games, including trailers, screenshots, concept art, wallpapers, and more. http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/

Company section: This section is all about Blizzard Entertainment as a company – it features our company profile, core values, partners, career opportunities, event information, and updated press center. http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/

Community section: This is your first stop for all community-related Blizzard Entertainment content, including the Blizzard Insider email newsletter archive, past and current contests, our fan art gallery, and BlizzCast, our official podcast. http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/community/

Explore the new website now: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/index.html

BlizzCon 2009 Picture Re-Cap!

2009-08-27T16:52:55Z

Diablofans.com has posted a pictorial re-cap of Blizzcon 2009 with lots of costumes, people, and events photographed for your viewing pleasure!
Take a look at some of the images:

There are still more photos to see, so be sure to check out the full online gallery located here:
http://www.diablofans.com/forums/album.php?albumid=47

New Blizzard Poll: What Panel Are You Most Interested In At BlizzCon?

2009-08-20T15:47:55Z

BlizzCon starts tomorrow and the internet is abuzz about what will definitely be the biggest year for Blizzard to date! We received a request from the community team at Blizzard today asking us to highlight a new poll they're running to judge what people are looking forward to the most from this event. Right now the "World of Warcraft Preview Panel" is at about 60% of the votes...which is an insanely staggering margin, but it's not over!

Let your voice be heard: What panel are you looking forward to the most?

This is a shorter poll than usual, running only for two days so be sure and check it out!

BlizzCon 2009 Official Floor Plan Released!

2009-08-19T00:18:56Z

With BlizzCon 2009 just around the corner everyone's wanting details on what'll happen at the big event this week. While we wait for all the news to unfold, here's a look at the official floor plan for this year's BlizzCon:

[click here to enlarge]

It's larger than ever before and should be chalk full of exciting events! Hall D looks like it could be the future home of a few major Blizzard announcements!

We'll be reporting on everything BlizzCon via our various fansites and of course here on Curse.com.

For game specific updates visit these sites during the event:

World of Raids
Arena Junkies
Diablo Fans

We're all ready for a long weekend! :)

Blizzard Goes Live With a Bang on Twitter With BlizzCon Coverage, Contests

2009-08-15T00:00:27Z

Blizzard Entertainment, known for the most well-known and iconic PC games in existence (Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, and MMO World of Warcraft, to name a few), is now live on Twitter! These days, lots of folks have Twitter accounts (heck, I've got one), and Blizzard is making their splash into the microblogging/social networking service with some great contests. Here's the info we've been given below:

Follow Blizzard Entertainment on Twitter!

You can now follow all of your favorite Blizzard Entertainment news on Twitter. Just head over to @Warcraft, @StarCraft, or@Diablo for all of the news, events, contests, and more. We’re starting off with a bang, so you can enter contests for each of the franchises:

1. @Warcraft -- Let out your #BattleCry to show your allegiance to Horde or Alliance in preparation for BlizzCon! Win Horde and Alliance prize packages while showing off your pictures during the ongoing battle across Twitter!

2. @StarCraft -- Are you the biggest #SC2fan? If you are, you will have a chance at 500 StarCraft II beta keys we’re giving away in this challenge.

3. @Diablo -- Have you always wanted to have an item in a game that you've named? Enter the #d3unique contest with your best item name and you could win the grand prize of seeing your item wielded by Diablo III players worldwide.

As we head into BlizzCon, we’ll also have live coverage and provide a spot to talk about news as it happens in real time. Be sure to check it out for contests and more over the next week. Do you plan to watch the DIRECTV Pay Per View or Internet stream? We’ll be Twittering live at the event and looking for your tweets! Things won’t end there, and we’re looking for you to help us reach a twittercal mass on our new Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo Twitter communities.

Ozzy Osbourne to Rock Closing Ceremonies of BlizzCon 2009!

2009-08-11T20:46:58Z

Ozzy Osbourne, the only man to challenge the Lich King’s claim to the title "Prince of Darkness" and live, will be performing at the Anaheim Convention Center to rock the closing ceremonies of BlizzCon 2009!

If you weren't able to get a tick and go this year don't worry! You'll still be able to watch the 'BlizzCon Virtual Ticket' live Internet stream or via DIRECTV Pay Per View. The Virtual Ticket will feature 18 hours of BlizzCon coverage, including Ozzy’s live performance, as well as the BlizzCon 2009 exclusive in-game pet: Grunty the Murloc Marine.

Here's the official press release about Ozzy at BlizzCon 2009:

Ozzy Osbourne to Perform at BlizzCon 2009 -

The largest event of its kind, BlizzCon is a celebration of Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft^®, Diablo^®, and StarCraft^® game universes and the global player communities surrounding them. At the closing ceremony on August 22, Ozzy will unleash a thunderous spectacle of rock to put the Lich King in his place and cement his own title as the one true Prince of Darkness.

One of the most influential rock musicians of all time, Ozzy Osbourne rose to prominence as the lead vocalist for Black Sabbath before embarking on a multi-platinum solo career. He is also known for putting on the Ozzfest music festival and for starring in his own reality TV show. Ozzy Osbourne’s career has spanned four decades and his music is as relevant today as ever. The Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has sold over 100 million albums worldwide--50 with Black Sabbath and as many as a solo artist--and in 2003 was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard's "Walk of Fame." This is his second collaboration with Blizzard Entertainment, following a recent TV spot for World of Warcraft^®.

"Our goal with BlizzCon is to deliver an unforgettable weekend of entertainment, and we can’t think of a better way to close out this year’s show than having Ozzy rock the house," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Many of us at Blizzard are lifelong fans of Ozzy’s music, and we’re thrilled that he’ll be performing for all of our BlizzCon attendees as well as those joining us via DIRECTV and the live Internet stream.”

In addition to serving as a gathering place for the different Blizzard Entertainment gaming communities, BlizzCon will offer an array of activities, including discussion panels, hands-on playtime with upcoming games, contests, tournaments showcasing the skills of top eSports gamers from around the world, and more. While tickets to the convention are currently sold out, the live Pay Per View event can still be ordered for $39.95 USD, and is available via DIRECTV and Internet stream (pricing and availability may vary by region). Visit www.blizzcon.com for more details and ordering information.

Blizzard Teams Up With Razer To Offer Blizzcon Tickets!

2009-07-20T18:25:58Z

BlizzCon has been sold out since the day tickets first went on sale and literally within minutes, but for those who still want to go there are options!

Blizzard has teamed-up with renowned computer hardware developer Razer to offer even more of these chances. However, there is a bit of a twist.

In order to win the chance to enter their Grand Prize contest (a complete trip for two to the 2009 BlizzCon, including board and travel), you must first complete a series of quests. However, even each of these still has its own prize, with quest one offering ten chances to win the Razer Deathadder? Gaming Mouse and quest two offering a mini-prize of a chance out of ten to win a RazerGear? Messenger Bag & Sleeve.

Entry in to the final contest requires that you have participated in each of these quests.

The Grand Prize includes the following: 2 (two) BlizzCon tickets, 2 (two) economy plane tickets, hotel reservations, and $300 dollars spending money!

See here for to sign up and/or see more details, and click here to see the official terms and conditions.

Blizzard Trademarks Cataclysm

2009-07-01T21:24:52Z

Blizzard Trademarks Cataclysm

This week gets more and more interesting every day. First it was the Faction-Change service announcement, then the latest PTR build sheding light on the Crusaders' Coliseum raid bosses, and now news of Blizzard Entertainment filing trademarks for "Cataclysm." World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, anyone?

We've already speculated a bit about a Maelstrom expansion, and it looks like Blizzard is readying their ammunition to head into BlizzCon with guns blazing. Companies usually only tip their hand on a game title when they're ready to announce it, so whatever Cataclysm is, we'll surely find out at BlizzCon. Sony Online Entertainment did this with their EQ and EQ2 expansions a few weeks before announcing them, and Blizzard will likely follow suit by sharing Cataclysm -- whatever it may be -- with the world in August.

So, again... how does World of Warcraft: Cataclysm sound? And would this be related to the Maelstrom? The Sargeras sound clip from yesterday suggests he's already gone from Azeroth (and was trying to get summoned back), so it likely won't involve him. Unless, of course, he's the cause of the cataclysmic events in this expansion. Another hint that this will be Maelstrom-related is this entry on WoWWiki:

Quote from: WoWWiki (Source)

The Great Sundering, also known as simply the Sundering or the Cataclysm,^{WRPG 185, 211} was a world event which reshaped Azeroth approximately 10,000 years ago at the end of the War of the Ancients. This event was triggered due to the Well of Eternity being destroyed.

Prior to the Sundering, there was only one continent on Azeroth, referred to as Kalimdor. In the catastrophic explosion, eighty percent of the land mass was destroyed,^{W3Man #?} leaving behind the major continents and scattered islands that are known today: Northrend, Kezan, the Eastern Kingdoms, and the remnant still referred to as Kalimdor.

The site of the Well of Eternity became a swirling vortex of power known as the Maelstrom.

At any rate, here are the three trademarks, which in some ways support this being World of Warcraft-related:

You're Favorite Music Ffrom Blizzard Games At MusiCON09 Coming July 18th!

2009-06-30T18:48:24Z

WorldofWarcraft.com has posted an update about the Blizzard Live Concert on July 18th! Video Games Live! has been putting on concerts of game music for years, and you may have had a chance to see them perform at BlizzCon in the past. The upcoming show in Houston has been expanded into an all-day celebration called Gamer MusiCON 09 that will feature a seperate concert for Blizzard games to kick off the afternoon! The festival also includes an interactive panel and Q&A session with Blizzard Entertainment music composers and an on-stage costume contest. For more information on Gamer MusiCON 09, or to purchase tickets, please visit the event website.

Here's the schedule for MusiCON09 and more information on the event:

Gamer MusiCON 09 with Video Games Live! & Blizzard Live!

The Houston Symphony, in partnership with Tommy Tallarico, Jack Wall and Blizzard Entertainment®, has expanded the visionary Video Games LiveTM concert to an all-day celebration of the cutting-edge video game music industry. The world premiere of Gamer MusiCON 09 includes two high-energy concerts featuring Symphony performances of the industry’s greatest video game hits with exclusive game footage and synchronized lighting. The first features the sights and sounds of Blizzard games World of Warcraft®, Diablo® and StarCraft® and never before performed music from World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King. While the second brings back an all-new Video Games LiveTM with material from games like Chrono Trigger®, Halo 3: ODST ® and Mega Man. Throughout the day, a Game Crazy festival will offer playable game demos throughout all three levels of Jones Hall, plus a Guitar Hero® contest for the chance to appear on stage during Video Games LiveTM. The festival also includes an interactive panel and Q&A session with Blizzard Entertainment® game composers, and an on-stage costume contest for attendees dressed as their favorite video game character.

Gamer MusiCON 09 timeline:

2:00   Doors to Jones Hall open for lobby festival
3:00 – 4:30  Blizzard Live! concert
4:30 – 7:30  Lobby festival
7:30 – 10:00  Video Games Live! concert
10:00 – 11:00 Post concert autographs & merchandise sales

Event Highlights:

Game Crazy festival with playable game demos throughout all three levels of Jones Hall
Interactive panel and Q&A session with Blizzard Entertainment®game composers
On-stage costume contest
Merchandise Sales
Post concert autograph session
Guitar Hero contest in lobby - winner plays on-stage during concert

Stay tuned for more!

Diablofans.com BlizzCon Tickets Round #2 and New Game From Blizzard!!

2009-05-31T15:39:41Z

DiabloFans.com posted some news this morning about trying to purchase Blizzcon tickets yesterday - and a very cool flash game Blizzard made available to people waiting in the queue! The flash game is called Failoc-Alypse and let players mass slay failocs outside the Anaheim convention center! Pictures and details are also in the full story listed below!

Here's a look at the Diblofans BlizzCon Tickets Round 2 and Failoc-Alypse:

Well, what can I say. I hope all of you guys who were trying to purchase BlizzCon tickets this morning had better luck than we did. Our own staff members were trying to purchase additional tickets since we didn't have enough for everyone and wanted more to be able to attend the big event, but no such luck. From the very get-go today, things weren't looking to good.

[click to enlarge]

This is the screen I saw after being in the queue for a little over a minute. An odd error which read an "Undefined" position in the queue and "NaN minutes" left to wait. 15 seconds later, I was booted out of the queue and sent back to the Blizzard homepage. From there, I had to re-enter the queue. Even with the glitches, I made it down to #659 in the queue with only a few minutes left to go. Unfortunately, before my turn came up, tickets had completely sold out.

So again, I really hope you guys had much better luck than we did today. And hey, even if you didn't, there's still hope for three of you because we're currently holding a big Blizzcon 2009 Ticket Giveaway Contest. Be sure to read all about it and get your entries in before the June 8th deadline!

On a lighter note, while the ticket queue process was clearly more glitchy this time around, there was some fun to be had. Blizzard unveiled a retro-style flash game called FAILOC-ALPYSE which you could play while you waited in the ticket queue to help pass the time. It even kept you up to date about your position in the ticket queue in the bottom right corner while you continued to play.

[click to enlarge]

Naturally, I selected the Witch Doctor from Diablo 3 as my playable character of choice and killed Failocs galore in front of the ever-growing crowd outside of the Anaheim Convention Center for BlizzCon. Managed to make it up to level 42 before BlizzCon tickets were sold out. Launched a nuke and scored some majors points for doing many rad double-jumps too. I also enjoyed seeing some familiar faces popping up in the background as the game went on. Good times.

Of course, me being a web designer at heart, I always like to check into the details of a page. So when I checked out the background image that the game resided on top of, I got a good chuckle out of what the flash game had been hiding:

[click to enlarge]

Good ol' Blizzard.

Blizzcon Tickets On sale May 30th Reminder!

2009-05-30T07:25:14Z

Blizzcon Ticket Reminder

Blizzcon tickets will be up for grabs again tomorrow for users with Battle.net Accounts via the Blizzcon Ticket Page! For more details on the process involved in getting a ticket visit the Blizzcon Ticket FAQ and be ready when they go on sale for your chance at purchasing a ticket to this blockbuster event! If you're not able to purchase a ticket we are hosting a few events here at the Curse Network that will give you up to 12 chances to win your way there!

Here is a list of currently available contests from our network:

Curse.com - we're running an Author Blizzcon Ticket Contest!

WorldofRaids.com - Design a WoW License Plate Contest!

DiabloFans.com - Class Art, Lore, Skills Contests!

ArenaJunkies.com - Design an Arena Map Contest!

Good luck and I can't wait to see some of you there!

Blizzcon 2009 Tickets Going On Sale Tomorrow!

2009-05-15T17:16:53Z

This notice was just posted to WorldofWarcraft.com about Blizzcon tickets going on sale tomorrow! If you don't score some tommorow we WILL be running a contest in the near future for some tickets that we have available for a contest!

Here's the official Blizzcon Tickets Notice:

Just in case Saturday, May 16 isn’t circled on your calendar, here’s a quick reminder that BlizzCon tickets will be going on sale tomorrow. After our gnomish engineers here in Southern California get to work and finish making the final preparations late Saturday morning, they’ll activate the ticket-purchase process and BlizzCon tickets will officially go on sale. If you are unable to purchase tickets tomorrow, a second batch of tickets will go on sale May 30. And for those unable to attend the show, in-depth coverage of BlizzCon will also be offered by DIRECTV as a Pay Per View event, available both via satellite and Internet stream.

BlizzCon 2009 will take place August 21 and 22 at the Anaheim Convention Center, and tickets cost $125 each. For further information about the convention, check out the official BlizzCon site, and keep an eye on the ticket sales page tomorrow for the chance to get yours.

Up to five (5) tickets per billing address can be purchased using the drop-down menu below. To learn more about BlizzCon 2009, please refer to the BlizzCon 2009 FAQ.

Blizzard Tops Develop 100 - World's Most Bankable Game Studios

2009-05-14T02:46:07Z

Blizzard Entertainment has managed to top the Develop 100 list of the World's Most Bankable Game Studios, beating out Nintendo, Capcom, Infinity Ward, Epic Games and many more cross-platform game studios -- proving above all else that quality game design wins, not the number of platforms you can publish your game on.

The list is based on several pieces of criteria, including sales data, critical success, and industry standing, according to the website. What's more interesting is the presence of a Free to Play game studio in the top 20 -- Nexon, at #19 -- further cementing the company as a real success story in an emerging market; monetization through non-subscription means.

The magazine is also available on issuu in interactive form, allowing you to see a few key facts about each company in the list, as well as a brief writeup. Did you know that 16 million quests are completed each day in World of Warcraft? Well now you do!

To check out the list, head over to the Develop 100 page.

Weekly Blizzard Community Updates - Forums Posts, News, and Dev Posts of Interest!

2009-05-13T19:27:20Z

Blizzard Community Manager Ancilorn has seen it fit to send us some recent EU & US forum posts that are worthy of a second take! Ancilorn has also included some of the latest important Developer posts and recent news topics for all things Blizzard!

Here's the update:

BlizzCon 2009 Exclusive Pet - 13/05/09

Want to do your part to protect Azeroth from interstellar invasion? Everyone who attends BlizzCon 2009 or purchases the BlizzCon Pay Per View event via DIRECTV will be joined by a new World of Warcraft in-game companion, Grunty the murloc marine. This tiny terror is fully armored and comes equipped with a gauss rifle, which he’ll occasionally fire into the air to make sure no invisible spacecraft are swooping in to attack.

BlizzCon 2009 takes place on August 21-22 in the Anaheim Convention Center. Tickets go on sale on Saturday, May 16, with a second allotment to be released on May 30. For further details, check out the recent press release.

Win A Trip To BlizzCon In Our Costume Contest! - 13/05/09

Warm up your sewing machines and start selecting the best fabrics you can; the Blizzard Costume Contest is coming soon! The best costume-maker will receive a grand prize package filled with great loot from our partners Panini, SteelSeries, and Upper Deck as well as an a trip for two to BlizzCon 2009! Check out our contest information page for details.

This contest will launch on May 20 so get your costumes ready!

New Wallpaper From Wildstorm! - 12/05/09

We have just added a new wallpaper to our Official World of Warcraft Wallpaper Gallery depicting scenes from the World of Warcraft comic series!

This wallpaper features artwork from Wildstorm's monthly comic series. If you like what you see, you can visit Wildstorm on the web for more information or to subscribe to the series directly.

Blizzard eSports Channel - 11/05/09

The Blizzard eSports Channel by ESL TV is a new streaming video service, available to World of Warcraft subscribers. This channel will showcase live eSports events using Blizzard Entertainment games, in addition to airing scheduled and on-demand programming. Active World of Warcraft subscribers can find the Blizzard eSports Channel underneath Free Services within Account Management.

EU Forums:

Here are some of the most recent blue-posts made on the EU forums:

· 13/05 - Recent In-Game Fixes

· 3.1.2 PTR Patch Notes

· Win A Trip To BlizzCon!

· BlizzCon 2009 Exclusive Pet

· 06/05 - Realms and Migration

· 06/05 - BlizzCon Tickets On Sale May 16

· New Wallpaper From Wildstorm!

· Blizzard eSports Channel

· Lightning Overload buff hotfix

· Wintergrasp Quest Changes