BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch.

The Closing Ceremony has featured concerts by The Offspring, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters, Ozzy Osbourne, Blink-182, Metallica, Linkin Park, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Muse.

It grants access to attend all panels across both days; play new games, patches, and expansions; and order exclusive Blizzard merchandise online before the convention.

In later BlizzCons, reserved seating for the Opening Ceremony and Community Night on the first day of the show were added as additional benefits.

Attendees were able to try one of the two new playable races, the Blood Elves, for upcoming expansion based in Outland which was released as World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade in 2007.

Level 60 Elite Tauren Chieftain, comedian Christian Finnegan, and The Offspring performed at the closing concert.

[25] The second expansion to World of Warcraft, titled Wrath of the Lich King, was officially announced and available to play.

[27] In the opening ceremonies, Blizzard president Michael Morhaime revealed the third playable class for Diablo III, the Wizard, as well as the major announcement that Starcraft II would be separated into three games.

Playable versions of Diablo III, StarCraft II, and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King were available to test during the convention.

[31] New in 2019, BlizzCon was broadcast live via an internet stream with access offered as a "Virtual Ticket" and included for pay-per-view customers.

The site covered both days of the convention featuring exclusive interviews and commentary, main stage presentations including the opening ceremony, and tournament coverage with team highlights.

[33] The fifth playable Diablo III class was revealed to be the Demon Hunter and the StarCraft II modification called "Blizzard DotA" was presented, which later evolved into Heroes of the Storm.

Diablo III, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm were playable.

The Virtual Ticket provided four live feeds from the convention floor, offering 50+ hours of BlizzCon programming.

Diablo III, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria were playable.

The GOMTV Global Starcraft II League October final match took place in Anaheim alongside BlizzCon.

StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops was announced as a set of three single-player mission packs.

The 2015 StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Finals was won by Kim "sOs" Yoo-jin beating reining winner Lee "Life" Seung Hyun, making him the first two-time StarCraft II world champion.

This year's Virtual Ticket included live streams of the conventions esports events and major panels, along with access to purchase the goody bag of promotional merchandise previously reserved for in-person attendees.

[49] The gaming announcements included the fourth expansion for Hearthstone, titled Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, which released in December 2016.

[60] Blizzard Entertainment announced that BlizzCon 2018 would be held on November 2 and 3 at the Anaheim Convention Center, with tickets again sold using Universe on May 9 and 12.

[62] The announcements on the first day included Warcraft III: Reforged, a remaster of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, The Frozen Throne;[63] a new Western-themed hero for Overwatch named Ashe;[64] the first original character for Heroes of the Storm, Orphea, who was gifted to attendees and Virtual Ticket holders;[65] the Rastakhan's Rumble expansion for Hearthstone;[66] a playable demo for World of Warcraft Classic;[67] and Diablo: Immortal, an action role-playing game for mobile devices.

[68] The announcement of Diablo: Immortal was poorly received, resulting in a high number of dislikes on the YouTube gameplay and cinematic trailers, and considerable criticism from gaming journalists and streamers.

[75] Blizzard Entertainment announced that BlizzCon 2019 would be held on November 1 and 2 at the Anaheim Convention Center, with tickets sold using AXS.com on May 4 and 8.

[7] In lieu of the traditional "goodie bag," convention attendees chose between an orc grunt or human footman statue to commemorate 25 years of Warcraft.

[82] In April 2020, Blizzard announced[83] that they were still working on plans for the next BlizzCon, noting that it may occur in some other form or be cancelled entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blizzard stated that there were plans for a "global event" with online components and "smaller in-person gatherings" to be held in early 2022.

[89] On June 29, 2023, Blizzard announced several new changes to BlizzCon but did confirm that tickets would be sold once more thru AXS.com in two waves across July 8 and 22.

In addition, all panels and Community Night events were held BlizzCon Arena using first-come, first-served seating.