BlizzCon Gaming Convention: A Retrospective

Having attended 3 of Blizzard Entertainment’s 4 conventions, I consider myself a veteran of this somewhat-annual video game theme park known as BlizzCon. BlizzCon is a celebration of all things WarCraft, StarCraft and Diablo - in essence, much like this site… but with cosplay Blood Elves, Murlocs and loud noises!

Continue reading for a retrospective look at BlizzCon's history beginning in 2005.


Date: Friday & Saturday, October 28-29, 2005
Location: Anaheim Convention Center & Arena
Convention Halls: A, B & C
Ticket Price: $120 (with concert ticket) and $80 (convention-only)
Tickets Available: 8,000
Announcements: World of WarCraft expansion, The Burning Crusade
Playable Demos: Single Player & Multiplayer StarCraft: Ghost (Xbox), World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade
Goodie Bag: Murky the Murloc, World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade Beta Key
Tournaments: StarCraft: Brood War, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne
Concert: Comedian Christian Finnegan, Level 60 Elite Tauren Chieftain, The Offspring


Summary:
A mere 8,000 BlizzCon tickets were made available to millions of WarCraft, StarCraft and Diablo fans. World of WarCraft was likely the catalyst for creating a Blizzard convention, having released just a year earlier and growing to over 5 million subscribers.

BlizzCon tickets went on sale early June and sold for $120 via the Blizzard Store. This initial batch of tickets included passes to the adjacent Anaheim Convention Center Arena where the concert would be held. Tickets sat in the Blizzard Store for several days before selling out while players debated their value. After the first batch of tickets sold out that included passage to the concert, convention-only tickets were made available for just $80.

Days later, all BlizzCon tickets were sold out and eBay became the new marketplace for BlizzCon tickets. Needless to say, the value of BlizzCon tickets was no longer in question. Players salivated over the exclusive World of WarCraft in-game vanity pet, Murky the Murloc, and guaranteed access into the next Blizzard Entertainment closed beta test. Among other things, the infamous BlizzCon Goodie Bag included t-shirts, stickers, stress balls, key chains, and a deck of cards.

Doors opened promptly on Friday, October 28, 2005 and attendees flooded halls A & B of the Anaheim Convention Center. Immediately, an introduction video announcing the first World of WarCraft expansion, The Burning Crusade began. Fans cheered as the words flashed across a sea of projection screens lining the convention hall’s ceilings – “Explore the Mysterious Realm of Outland,” “Flying Mounts in Outland,” New Profession: Jewelcrafting,” “Socketed Items,” “Two New Races,” “Level Cap Raised to 70”.

Now officially underway, BlizzCon attendees went about exploring the new Blood Elf starting zone in the playable World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade demo, while others lined up to be the first (and subsequently only) ones to have ever played StarCraft: Ghost in both its single player and multiplayer varieties on the Xbox. Still, others visited designated rooms where players could meet other players in their guild and realm, sharing stories of victory or taunting the opposing faction. Third-party vendors such as Brady Games, SteelSeries, Intel, and Jinx provided attendees with various games and challenges to win small prizes. nVidia provided several stations where you could log in and play on your live realm to brag to your friends and guild that you were at BlizzCon.

Lines filled at the Blizzard Store where you could purchase your desired StarCraft, WarCraft and Diablo memorabilia. As the StarCraft: Brood War and WarCraft 3: The Frozen Throne multiplayer tournaments semi-finals began, attendees focused their gaze on the big-screens in awe of the amount of control demonstrated by the world’s best RTS players.

Throughout the show Blizzard employees would take turns appearing at a “signing” table where they would talk directly with fans and sign autographs. Even the bigwigs took their turn where attendees had the chance to speak with Michael Morhaime, Chris Metzen, Samwise Didier and many others responsible for the award-winning franchises we all know and have come to love.

Blizzard also used this time in front of their fans to seek out passionate players who could help build new worlds, movies, sounds and tools. Attendees seeking employment at Blizzard Entertainment are encouraged to come prepared with a resume and/or portfolio for submission at an employment booth just inside the convention hall.

So whether you're looking to pimp yourself as a passionate, creative prospect for Blizzard hiring manager, are a loot-crazed fan and want to impress all your guildies and realm-mates with your exclusive WoW vanity pet, have to be the first of your friends to get your hands on Blizzard's latest game or just come for the friends, fun, food and activities, BlizzCon is a circus you won't want to miss!