All of the tickets available in the BlizzCon 2008 Ticket Drawing are now sold out. Ticketholders should keep an eye on the official BlizzCon site for the latest information on panels, contests, and other events at the show, which takes place Friday, October 10 and Saturday, October 11 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

We are now accepting entries for our BlizzCon online contests, including our Diorama, Motivational Poster, and Movie contests. Whether you have tickets to BlizzCon or not, your application is welcome. Simply fill out the Submission form and be prepared to demonstrate your creative talents! For more contest information visit our BlizzCon Contests page.

For those BlizzCon attendees looking to show off graceful dance moves, fill the convention center halls with laughs, or come dressed as your favorite Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo characters, the Submission form for all applicants is now available! For more contest information visit our BlizzCon Contests page.

If you enjoy the music from Blizzard Entertainment games and have ever thought about ordering the soundtracks, doing so just got more convenient. Six soundtrack albums have just been added to a new Blizzard hub page within the iTunes music store, and are available for purchase and download. The StarCraft, Diablo II, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, and The Burning Crusade soundtracks are all there, as is the Taverns of Azeroth album, which had been exclusively sold at BlizzCon 2007. The Diablo III Overture is also available as a single, and has been chosen as a Discovery Download, making it free to download until next Tuesday. For more information, check out the official announcement, or head over to the Blizzard iTunes page.

DIRECTV has just announced further details for their pay per view package of BlizzCon coverage, and that the special promotion offering it free with a new subscription is now open. New DIRECTV subscribers in the US who sign up for DIRECTV by September 30 through www.blizzard.directv.com or 800-728-9375 will receive the package for free, while existing DIRECTV customers will be able to order it for $39.95 beginning on September 28. For full details, check out the official announcement, or head over to the BlizzCon site.

We just added the Diablo Timeline to the Diablo III website. This page provides a chronological background for the history of Sanctuary. If you're interested in learning more about the lore of the Diablo universe, look no further.

We've also expanded the media galleries with four new pieces of artwork and four new screenshots. Take a look!

The winners of the BlizzCon 2008 Ticket Drawing have been chosen. We've sent emails to 1,500 randomly selected eligible Blizzard Account holders containing instructions for purchasing up to two tickets to the show. For your security, please note that in this email we are not asking winners to email us credit card information directly, nor are we asking winners to call Blizzard for any reason.

If we still have tickets remaining after this initial round, we will select more winners from the original opt-in pool. We will make an announcement on our websites once all tickets available have been sold. For more information, refer to the BlizzCon Ticket Drawing FAQ.

The opt-in period for the BlizzCon 2008 Ticket Drawing is now over. We will be randomly selecting winners within the next few days and will announce when selections have been made on our websites. If you are chosen, you will receive an email from Blizzard containing information about how to purchase up to two tickets to BlizzCon 2008. If you haven't done so already, please go to Blizzard Account Management and update your contact information. For more details, see the FAQ.

Attendees of the recent Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational in Paris received, among other goodies, a card containing codes redeemable for an in-game World of Warcraft non-combat Tyrael pet and entry into the Wrath of the Lich King beta. If you weren’t able to attend but would still like a chance at a Tyrael pet of your own, you’re in luck -- because we recently sent Diablo III fan sites some cards to give away.

As of now, both D3DB.com and Diii.net have begun contests, while Diablofans.com and Diablo-Source.com will be starting their own giveaways soon. Keep an eye out here and other Diablo fan sites for more chances to win.

The BlizzCon 2008 Ticket Drawing opt-in is now live. People with eligible Blizzard Accounts who wish to enter the drawing can now do so by logging in to Blizzard Account Management. The opt-in period will last until 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, August 24. After it ends, we will select 1,500 people from the opt-in pool and offer them a chance to purchase up to two tickets to BlizzCon 2008.

This is a random drawing -- everyone with an eligible Blizzard Account who opts in any time during the opt-in period will have the same chance to win. Please make sure your Blizzard Account contact information (email and phone number) is up to date. For more information, including eligibility requirements, click here or read the FAQ.

As discussed last week, we’re preparing a drawing to offer 3,000 more BlizzCon 2008 tickets for sale. We’re finalizing the process now, and you’ll be able to enter the drawing beginning Wednesday morning -- in the meantime, here is an overview of how the drawing will work:

• To be eligible for the BlizzCon ticket drawing, you must (1) have an active Blizzard Account that was created on or before 9:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, August 12, 2008, when we first announced BlizzCon 2008 tickets had sold out; (2) be an adult in your country of residence; (3) have not previously purchased BlizzCon 2008 tickets; and (4) live in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, or South Korea.
• Prior to the drawing, we will hold an opt-in period during which you can enter an eligible Blizzard Account into the drawing for a chance to purchase two BlizzCon 2008 tickets. Once the opt-in begins , you’ll see an opt-in feature when you log in to Blizzard Account Management. The opt-in period begins on Wednesday morning and will end the evening of Sunday, August 24. As this is a random drawing, those who opt in early will not have a better chance of being selected than those who opt in later.
• After the opt-in period ends, we will randomly select 1,500 eligible Blizzard Accounts from the opt-in pool to receive the opportunity to purchase up to two BlizzCon 2008 tickets. If selected, you will be notified via email with further information about how to purchase the tickets.
• Prior to the end of the opt-in period, please ensure the contact information (both email address and phone number) associated with the Blizzard Account is accurate and up to date, so that we may contact you if you are selected. To check and update your information, log in to Blizzard Account Management.

Please note that a Blizzard Account is an account created for the Blizzard Online Store -- as opposed to an account created for a Blizzard game, such as World of Warcraft. If you have any questions regarding Blizzard Accounts, please read our Blizzard Account FAQ.

We will announce when the drawing opt-in period begins on our website soon. For more information, please refer to our BlizzCon 2008 Ticket Drawing FAQ.

We recently announced that we will be offering 3,000 more BlizzCon 2008 tickets for sale via a drawing. Soon, eligible Blizzard Account holders who created accounts prior to 9:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 will be able to opt in for a chance to purchase up to two tickets to the show. We’re aware that many players are waiting for this drawing, and we appreciate your continued patience as we finalize the details. We’ll have more information to share here and on our other websites early next week.

Please note that a Blizzard Account is an account created for the Blizzard Online Store -- as opposed to an account created for a Blizzard game, such as World of Warcraft. If you have any questions regarding Blizzard Accounts, please read our Blizzard Account FAQ.

We have added three new pieces of artwork, two new screenshots, and one new wallpaper.

Blizzard Gamers,

On behalf of everyone at Blizzard, I want to apologize for the challenges and frustrations you experienced while trying to purchase BlizzCon tickets on Monday and Tuesday. BlizzCon is about the positive experiences you all have had with Blizzard games. As a result of this week's events, the excitement that many of you felt about the show has turned into dissatisfaction and disappointment.

Due to these circumstances, we've reevaluated our convention hall space and come up with some solutions that will allow us to offer 3,000 more tickets for sale. We know this will not be enough to satisfy the very high level of demand for tickets this year, but we want to ensure that BlizzCon remains a great experience for those of you who are able to attend. To avoid the issues many of you faced this week, we'll be selling these 3,000 via a lottery. We'll post further details once our plans are finalized. Please note that the lottery will only be open to those with an active Blizzard Account as of 9:00 PM PDT on August 12, the time that the “Sold Out” notice was posted.

I, and everyone else at Blizzard, share the frustration and disappointment that many of you have expressed as a result of this process. We'll do what it takes to avoid this type of situation in the future.

Sincerely,
Mike Morhaime

Tickets to BlizzCon 2008 are now sold out. We'd like to thank everyone once again for their overwhelming interest in this year's show. If you were unable to secure tickets, please keep in mind that DIRECTV will be broadcasting BlizzCon live from the Anaheim Convention Center on October 10 and 11. In the meantime, keep an eye on the BlizzCon 2008 website for updates on panels, exhibits, events, and more. We look forward to meeting some of you at the show!

Tickets for BlizzCon 2008 are now available for USD $100 each. BlizzCon will take place October 10-11 in Anaheim, California -- head over to the official site for more information or to place your BlizzCon ticket order. We look forward to meeting some of you at the show!

Commemorating the exciting announcement of Diablo III, Blizzard Entertainment and Sideshow Collectibles are proud to introduce the Diablo III Premium Statue series with its epic first release. Unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con 2008, "Overthrown" depicts a mighty barbarian atop the conquered Diablo, shouting towards the High Heavens in vicious triumph.

Standing a massive 18" (457.2mm) high, hand-cast in high-quality polystone and meticulously painted to exacting standards, each piece is individually finished with a unique edition number. To see some pictures or to pre-order the piece, head on over to Sideshow's website and check out the regular edition or the Sideshow exclusive edition (includes alternate helmeted head)

We have added three new pieces of artwork, two new screenshots, and one new wallpaper.

Twenty years have passed since the cataclysmic events of Diablo® II. Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal have been defeated, but the Worldstone, which once shielded the world of Sanctuary from the forces of both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, has been destroyed, and evil once again stirs in Tristram....

Following the unveiling of Diablo III today at the Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational, we've launched the game's official website, with information about the places, characters, monsters, and adventures awaiting you upon your return to the world of Sanctuary. Some of the site's highlights include:

• The cinematic teaser trailer shown at the 2008 Worldwide Invitational
• A 20-minute gameplay demo video
• More than 60 screenshots and pieces of concept art
• Deckard Cain's journal, narrated by Deckard Cain himself -- stay a while and listen!
• And much, much more

Visit the new Diablo III website now to learn more about the game, and make sure to check out the official FAQ and the announcement press release.