If you’re a fan of Blizzard Entertainment and its many intellectual properties (read, games and their multimedia incarnations) you already know that the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend is home to the biggest, ‘bluest’ event of the year! If not, we still love you, so read on to find out WHAT ALL THE HYPE IS ABOUT!
Esports! Esports! Esports!
Five (that’s right, FIVE) world championships are fast-approaching their thrilling conclusions! After a year of sweat and tears from all around the world, Overwatch (OW), Heroes of the Storm (Heroes/HotS), StarCraft II (SC2), Hearthstone (HS), and World of WarCraft (WoW) are all in their final stretches. Whether you play Blizzard’s first-person shooter (FPS), multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), real-time strategy (RTS), digital card game (DCG) or massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG), world-class competition awaits you! Spectate live or online (see Virtual Ticket link below). You can checkout the full esports schedule here.
Never played these games? Come to the UCI Esports Arena and try them out!
Huge Surprises, Big Announcements
Do you like being the first to know anything and everything about your passions and hobbies? In the past, BlizzCon has debuted all the Azeroth-shaking news, from new expansions for existing games to major changes, and on rare occasion even a brand new intellectual property or title. We’d tell you more, but *SPOILERS*! Panels for every game are the place to be or stream to drink in.
Cosplay for Days!
Some might consider BlizzCon the world championships of Cosplay (even if LA Comic-Con just held their National Cosplay Championships). A picture is worth a thousand words, so take a peek at this 2017 Blizzcon Costume Contest photo gallery over at Wowhead to save me from hundreds of thousands of words.
Peanut Butter Jelly Time! (AKA PARTY TIME!)
Where you at? Where you at? There may be no peanut butter, nor jelly, and DEFINITELY NO BASEBALL BATS, but you can still have a great time in the neighboring hotel lobbies every night with hundreds of your best friends you have not met yet. The plaza between the Anaheim Convention Center, Hilton, and Marriott hotels plus their lobbies are the place to be. Blow off some midterms steam, drink (legally and responsibly), and dance the night away with more nerds and geeks than your local Roleplaying/Tabletop Games Club!
Fame and Glory (In-Game Exclusives)
Few things elicit awe and envy like having something cool that few others possess. Whether you attend BlizzCon in-person* or purchase a Virtual Ticket upon reading this article, you will receive all the same in-game rewards. A legendary Overwatch skin (Demon Hunter Sombra, a Diablo mash-up/tribute) as well as 10 free packs from 5 different sets of Hearthstone (and an exclusive cardback) are just some of the attendee rewards for 2018. There is usually a WoW pet and there has been a cool banner or other cosmetic buff for Diablo III.
Also, a debut perk this year for Virtual Ticket holders: join show attendees as the first people to play the World of Warcraft Classic BlizzCon Demo at home. Previously only available on the show floor, the Virtual Ticket brings this content straight to your home for a limited time!
Whichever way you choose to do it, HAVE A HAPPY BLIZZCON 2018, EVERYONE!
