BlizzCon 2010

BlizzCon 2010 will take place at Anaheim Convention Center on 21-22 October 2010.

Before Announcement

This BlizzCon was long considered hypothetical, since Blizzard had not yet announced the show, much less given any details about when or where it might be held. It was still widely expected that such an event would take place, after the wildly-successful and popular shows in 2008 and 2009, but nothing guaranteed it.

The first BlizzCon was held in the Anaheim Convention Center in late 2005. There was no Blizzcon in 2006, before the show returned in 2007, and continued in 2008 and 2009. Since 2008 the show has grown fantastically popular, selling out in minutes.

Blizzard employees made numerous joking remarks about "Blizzcon next year" when referring to additional info releases about their games.

Known Features

The fifth class in Diablo III was confirmed to be revealed at BlizzCon 2010. And it was, with the Demon Hunter cinematic debuting right during the opening ceremonies, as well as the big new PvP Battle Arena.

Panel Schedule

Blizzard released a list of the panels a few weeks before the show. There was general to general dismay from the Diablo III community, when only two panels and one open Q&A were on the list for our game. (Compared to 6 Starcraft 2 and 7 World of Warcraft panels.)

• Full panel listing here.

The 3 Diablo III Panels were Diablo III Gameplay, Crafting Sanctuary, and Open Q&A.

Diablo III Gameplay Panel

This panel covered the Demon Hunter, Battle Arenas, and much more. See a full transcript with numerous screenshots here.

• BlizzCon 2010 Panel: Diablo III Gameplay

The official description:

Gameplay_Panel_Blizzcon_2010

Friday 12pm, Main Stage

What’s in store next for the heroes of Sanctuary? Learn about the latest game developments in this don’t-miss panel for Diablo players.

Crafting Sanctuary Panel

This panel covered the development of the game world, levels, quests, plot, monsters, NPCs, skills, and many more features of the game. See a summary and numerous screenshots here:

• BlizzCon 2010 Panel: Crafting Sanctuary

The official description:

Diablo III: Crafting Sanctuary

Saturday 10:30am, Developer Panel Stage

The designers, artists, programmers, and writers share new information on the characters, creatures, game systems, and story of Diablo III.

Diablo III Open Q&A

This open Q&A put the developers on the stage and lots of fans in the audience. As usual, it was mostly filled with "noob" questions covering old info, but there were some new tidbits to enjoy.

A rough transcript can be seen here.

• BlizzCon 2010 Panel: Open Q&A

The official description:

Diablo III Open Q&A

Saturday 3pm, Main Stage

Got a burning question about the Burning Hells? The development team dedicates an hour to audience questions about the story, design, art, sound, and gameplay of Diablo III.</blockquote>

Floor Plan

The floor space taken by the event is the same as it was for Blizzcon 2009.

Vegas?

Rumors broke in late 2009 that Blizzcon 2010 would be held in late July in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was officially denied by Blizzard a week later.