BlizzCon 2016 marks the tenth annual gathering hosted by Blizzard, and should shape up to be a pretty epic event. This also marks Blizzard’s 25th anniversary, so it should be an event to remember. BlizzCon is one of the most anticipated esports tournaments, and rightfully so. Blizzard has always been a pioneer in gaming, and has plenty of hugely played games to show for it. This year at BlizzCon, seasoned players will compete in StarCraft II, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and (my personal favorite) the World of Warcraft Arena Championship. The event isn’t until November, but tickets go on sale really, really soon, and can only be purchased on two days. If you were planning on going, you better be ready to scramble for tickets.
BlizzCon Tickets can be bought on April 20 and 23. The event will be held in Anaheim, California, on November 4 and 5. If you want to go, you need to get your tickets on one of these two days. The tickets go for $199, and are released in batches. The first batch goes on sale at 7 PM Pacific Standard Time, April 20 and the second batch goes on sale at 10 a.m. P.T, April 23. The tickets will be sold through Universe, or you can just check out the BlizzCon Tickets page.
Esports are still relatively new in the scope of the gaming community. While they will be a large focus of BlizzCon, perhaps the more exciting part of these conventions are the panels. You can find out breaking news about what Blizzard is working on, and what may soon be on the horizon. There will surely be talk of the Warcraft movie, new games on the way, sequels to older games, expansions, and whatever else Blizzard has been up to.
But back to esports. BlizzCon will be featuring World Championships for several widely played games, and you’ll be able to see the world’s top players compete. Gamers around the world are, in fact, already competing to secure a place in the championships. Here are the games that will be featured, in case you haven’t heard of one or more of them:
StarCraft II
StarCraft II is a real-time strategy game that many are familiar with. The StarCraft name itself is a classic, and StarCraft II is has been a huge name in esports since its release and subsequent Heart of the Swarm Expansion. This will be the first Blizzcon since the release of the newest expansion, Legacy of the Void. How have the previously top-tier players adapt to this new version's balance? We will see!
Hearthstone
Hearthstone is an online collectible card game by Blizzard. It is your basic turn-based card game, where players compete one-on-one, and this game has a huge following. If you are overwhelmed by the speed and hectic nature of other esports games, you should at least check out Hearthstone. It is a game definitely worthy of having a place at BlizzCon 2016.
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm is a multiplayer brawl-type game that features characters from Blizzard’s other franchises. That’s right, you can play as characters from WoW, Diablo, StarCraft, and other Blizzard titles. A game like this belongs at BlizzCon 2016.
World of Warcraft Arenas
No Blizzard event would be complete without a heavy dose of World of Warcraft. A game that has been around this long must have something great going for it. If you’ve played WoW before, you know that there are plenty of ways to play: PvP, PvE, roleplaying, or just playing for the massive amounts of lore packed in. WoW PvP is a masterpiece. WoW arenas are some of the most intense toe-to-toe PvP out there (I speak from experience), and the players likely to make it to the championships and BlizzCon 2016 have probably been playing for the long haul. With over a decade of experience, you can only imagine the level of skill these players will possess.
Which game are you most excited to watch? Bet on it! Find out which teams are doing well so far, maybe even look up their previous statistics, and maybe make a little money off of BlizzCon 2016! Who knows, you might make back the money you spent on a ticket! Or if you missed your chance to buy an in-person ticket, BlizzCon is again offering a “Virtual Ticket” option to view the event live with professional hosting and replays. Not as much fun as cheering in the crowd, but much better than piecing together the event from YouTube videos after the fact!
