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.

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 it was 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.

All BlizzCon 2009 Pay Per View event purchasers received an exclusive "Grunty the Murloc Marine" World of Warcraft in-game pet.

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.

All purchasers received an exclusive "Grunty the Murloc Marine" World of Warcraft in-game pet.

[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 HD BlizzCon programming.

Korean pro-gamer MVP_Genius won the StarCraft II BlizzCon Invitational[citation needed] The vinyl record Revolution Overdrive: Songs of Liberty was released for the event.

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.

[40] The Heroes of the Storm "Cinematic Trailer" was presented with an alpha version of the game available for playing.

Blizzard offered a Virtual Ticket for live online streaming of all of the esports events and major panels, remaining at the $39.99 price.

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

[50] Kristian Nairn, who played Hodor on the HBO series Game of Thrones, was the DJ during Blizzard's 25th anniversary party.

[54][55] Blizzcon 2017 had a record number of more than 35,000 attendees due to a recently completed expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center.

[60] Blizzard Entertainment announced that BlizzCon 2018 would be held on November 2 and 3 at the Anaheim Convention Center, with tickets being available to purchase from Universe.com 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, with a release sometime in 2019;[63] Ashe, a new Western-themed hero for Overwatch;[64] Orphea, daughter of the Raven Lord, the first original character for Heroes of the Storm, who will be given free to attendees and Virtual Ticket holders;[65] the Rastakhan's Rumble expansion for Hearthstone;[66] World of Warcraft Classic, which had a playable demo available for both attendees and Virtual Ticket holders, will be released in the middle of 2019, and will be included in the regular World of Warcraft subscription;[67] and Diablo: Immortal, an action role-playing game for mobile devices.

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

[7] In lieu of the traditional "goodie bag," convention attendees will be able to choose 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.

In addition, all panels and Community Night events will also take place in the BlizzCon Arena and sitting will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

[90] Hall E of the Anaheim Convention Center was also not used, it was historically dedicated to the Blizzcon Store and merchandise pick-up, as well as hosting the costume contest.