At the end of June 2009, Europe’s finest Warcraft III and World of Warcraft players competed for a spot at the Grand Finals to be held during this year’s BlizzCon. All participants proved their strength in Cologne, and we had the opportunity to watch some amazing battles and tests of skill. In the end, two arena teams for World of Warcraft, x6tence and Woah, earned the privilege to defend the European colors in Anaheim. In the Warcraft III bracket, LucifroN, Grubby and Nicker will compete for the title and prove that they are far from being mere challengers. We are very proud to present to you the European champions for this year’s BlizzCon. Make sure to check out the European participants here.

Ozzy Osbourne, the only mortal to openly challenge the Lich King’s claim to the title “Prince of Darkness” and survive, will take the stage live at Anaheim Convention Center to rock the closing ceremonies of BlizzCon 2009.

Although tickets to the convention sold out in minutes, you can still join in with the ‘BlizzCon Virtual Ticket’ live Internet stream. The Virtual Ticket will feature 18 hours of BlizzCon coverage, including Ozzy’s live performance, as well as the BlizzCon 2009 exclusive in-game pet: Grunty the Murloc Marine.

Check out the official press release to learn more.

Continuing our behind-the-scenes look at Blizzard Entertainment games and developers, BlizzCast 10 features a Q&A session about World of Warcraft patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade. As players have begun exploring all of the new content available in this patch, you’ll get to hear the developers’ take on some of the highlights of the Argent Tournament, Crusaders’ Coliseum, and the Isle of Conquest. We’ll put all of the new action in and off the coast of Icecrown in perspective for you and even talk a bit about our thoughts on BlizzCon 2009 (coming August 21 and 22 to the Anaheim Convention Center).

Listen to BlizzCast episode 10 here.

Call of the Crusade, the new World of Warcraft content update, is now live! Under thundering skies, Argent Tournament participants have honed the arts of war and faced off in bone-shattering jousting matches to earn the right to be called champions. But these heroes have yet to face the greatest challenge of all: the Crusaders' Coliseum, an all-new level-80 raid dungeon available in both normal and more challenging Heroic versions for both 10 and 25 players. Call of the Crusade also introduces the new Isle of Conquest Battleground, the ability to gain experience points in Battlegrounds, new daily quests, and significant changes to class talents and abilities.

Watch the Call of the Crusade trailer now, and make sure to read the patch notes or check the Call of the Crusade page for more information.

You can now sign up for our on-site BlizzCon contests by visiting the BlizzCon Contest page. The Dance, Soundalike, and Costume contests will be taking place live on-stage August 21 at BlizzCon. If you wish to take part in these contests it's important you sign up now, before the event. We'll be emailing registered participants before the event with more information on what do once they reach the convention center. Visit the BlizzCon Contest page to read the rules and sign up now!

Members of our recruitment team will be at the Blizzard booth during gamescom 2009 to answer your questions about life as a Blizzard employee. Blizzard Europe currently has numerous open positions in quality assurance, localization, customer support and other departments in our offices in Vélizy, France (near Paris) and Cork, Ireland. We’re looking for Italian, Polish, Russian, German, French, Spanish and English speakers. You can find out about all our open positions in Europe here.

So come to Cologne from 20 to 23 August armed with your CV and a passion for forging great games! We look forward to seeing you there.

The second day of the Regional Finals in Cologne, Germany is over with plenty of fast-paced and thrilling games and matches. During the first half of the day, the last four games of the EU Regional Finals took place and we were able to see the champions for both Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne – LucifroN -- as well as for World of Warcraft -- team x6tence from Spain -- who managed to come back from the lower brackets and take the title once again.
The second half of the day, the 2009 US Regional Finals started, bringing us a lot of exciting and fast-paced matches. For Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne SonKiE and LongWalk reached the semi-final of the upper bracket while ShrieK and CrunCher are fighting their way through the lower bracket. The upper bracket of World of Warcraft was dominated by the teams EG and the tournament veterans SK Gaming US while in the lower bracket the teams TSG and eMg managed to beat their opponents.
We also saw several contests down in the free gaming area and signing sessions with Tom Chilton. The venue was crowded with spectators cheering for their favorite players while following the breathtaking fights which took place live on stage.
Today, however, we will be watching the last set of US matches. Expectations are high as we are left with the above-mentioned players and teams to duke it out not only for the title of North American regional champions, but for a chance to visit BlizzCon and participate in the Grand Finals of 2009 in Anaheim, California.
Be sure to check out our Regional Finals page here. Don't miss the live coverage for this last tournament day on our forum thread for today and stay tuned for more exciting coverage and additional images in our Regional Finals gallery.

The 2009 Warcraft Regional Finals have come to an end! We shared exciting moments and thrilling matches with our visitors and viewers here at the venue in Cologne, Germany. Fast matches, breathtaking scenes and top performances shown by the participants of this tournament heated up the air in the halls of the KOMED venue during all three days.
The last day finished with the North American finals for both Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft. In the final rounds of Warcraft III, LongWalk defeated SonKiE a second and final time with 2:1, taking back home $5000.00 and a spot at the Grand Finals in Anaheim for his impressive performance during this event.
Set to fight it out in the Lower Bracket finals for World of Warcraft were TSG and EG. The match was played out relatively quickly as each team won every second round, making good use of all five potential rounds. In the fifth round, we found TSG playing very aggressively and cooldowns such as BladeStorm were used straight off the bat in order to put that extra little bit of pressure on EG. The tactic proved successful as they managed to drop Azael after a well-coordinated target-swap, securing their spot in the Grand Finals.
Waiting for TSG in the Grand Finals was SK Gaming US who considered themselves very well-prepared for TSG despite having never faced them in a tournament before. The rounds went by quickly as SK Gaming justified their high level of confidence by winning the match 3-1 in some very fast-paced rounds. Their use of Mass Dispel against Zilea's bubble won them the round as they proved to the world that they are currently the best American team in the world , receiving a reward of $15.000.00 for their title.
Finally we would like to thank all players, visitors, and spectators for their dedication and commitment. We hope that everybody had as much fun as we did on this great event here in Cologne. Make sure to check out our Regional Finals page here. Don’t miss the latest live coverage for this last tournament day on our forum thread for today. Additionally we have updated our gallery with more pictures showing impressions and emotions we were able to catch here for you.

The second day of the 2009 Warcraft Regional Finals here in Cologne has already started and we already know the teams and players who won a safe place for the Grand Finals this year in Anaheim, California.
For WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne LucifroN, Nicker, and Grubby won their spots for the Grand Finals, while for World of Warcraft team Woah and x6tence, who just defeated eDawgs in the lower bracket semi-final, earned their tickets to BlizzCon in Anaheim where the Grand Finals will be held.
Today Grubby showed his strength in the EU Warcraft Regional Finals, defeating Nicker, a night elf player, quite quickly in the first game. After a fight between two huge armies in the second game as well, Grubby emerged victorious as well. Later on team x6tence, the winners of last year’s EU Regional Finals, crushed the eDawgs RMP team in three very fast and exiting matches in the lower bracket World of Warcraft Semi-Finals with 3:0, leaving eDawgs in the dust.
The Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was staged between the two famous players LucifroN, winner of yesterday’s upper bracket, and Grubby, who got his chance for revenge after losing against LucifroN yesterday morning in the first Warcraft III game of the day. Grubby started strong and was able to beat LucifroN on the first map. LucifroN recovered quickly and showed his superior skills, defeating Grubby with 2:1 on the last two maps to become the winner of the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne 2009 Regional Finals, taking home $5000.00 as a prize.
Spanish domination kept on going when team x6tence was able to defeat team Woah -- led by the famous Inflame -- in two breathtaking rounds, winning both times 3:2. A thrilling moment was the match where Woah lost their druid but still kept on going, finally resulting in the defeat of team x6tence in that round. After two rounds, x6tence won the World of Warcraft Regional Finals and received a $15,000 check from Tom Chilton.
Stay tuned and continue watching the beginning of the 2009 North American Regional Finals which will start in a few minutes with more exciting matches on our website for the Regional Finals and make sure to check out the live coverage on our forum thread.

This year, for the first time, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a live Internet stream of BlizzCon coverage from the comfort of your own home. The production consists of over 16 hours of video, including interviews and commentary, main stage presentations, and tournament coverage. It’s now available to order for $39.95 (29,95 €), and purchasers will also receive the BlizzCon 2009-exclusive in-game pet, Grunty the Murloc Marine (not available in all regions). Head over to the BlizzCon 2009 Live Stream website to get more information, to test video playback on your system, or to place an order.