PARIS, France -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.'s two-day gaming and eSports convention, the Blizzard Entertainment® Worldwide Invitational, begins this Saturday, June 28, the company announced. The Blizzard Worldwide Invitational celebrates the communities surrounding the Warcraft®, Diablo®, and StarCraft® game universes and showcases the skills of top eSports gamers from around the world.

This year's event will take place at Hall 5 of the Porte de Versailles Exposition Center in Paris -- the first time the company has held the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Europe. Attendees will enjoy two days of gaming, contests, developer Q&A panels, tournaments, and more, and the show will conclude with performances by game-music concert group Video Games Live and Blizzard's own Warcraft-themed rock band, Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain.

"We're looking forward to meeting face-to-face with thousands of our players at the Exposition Center this weekend," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Our employees, partners, and sponsors have all contributed to making this a memorable experience for the attendees, and we hope everyone truly enjoys the show."

For those unable to attend, coverage of the event will be featured at http://eu.blizzard.com/wwi08. The 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational would not be possible without the enthusiasm of Blizzard gamers around the world and the generous support of ATI®, HP®, Intel®, Samsung Electronics, and other sponsors.