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Frost on June 29th, 2008

Today was the last day of the Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France. The day began with a panel led by Blizzard artists Samwise Didier and Dave Berggren where they discussed the distinctive "Blizzard" style of art and graphics (in StarCraft). Also taking place this morning were the Diablo Lore and Art panel that helped players get a feel for the history that has occured since the end of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and the World of Warcraft: Anatomy of Raids panel where players got an inside view of how the dungeons of Northrend will be constructed. The afternoon brought us to a panel discussion with World of Warcraft developers concerning the PvP system and another panel touching on the Denizens of Diablo.

Finally, the day comes to an end with the closing ceremony featuring a concert given by the Video Games Live orchestra. The crowd will be warmed up by an energetic performance from Blizzard's very own Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, who leveled up from 70 during the course of their epic performance.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our next event and would like to thank all our guests for attending and all our viewers for checking out the website during the event! Thanks and hope to see you again soon!

Check out our coverage page, the image gallery, and the final tournament bracket to learn more about the event!

Frost on June 29th, 2008

Over the last two days we have been treated to a spectacular display of skill and speed as world champion players of StarCraft, Warcraft III, and the World of Warcraft Arena, have gathered here to compete.

From beginning to end, these tournaments have provided excitement and surprises for players and spectators alike, and we are now proud to announce the winners of each category.

StarCraft winners

Winner: ByungGu Song "Stork"
Runner-up: BoSung Yum "Seashield"

Warcraft winners

Winner: JaeHo Jang "Moon"
Runner-up: June Park "Lyn"

World of Warcraft winners

First Place: Council of Mages
Second Place: Improved clicks
Third Place: SK-US

Check out our brackets page for a more detailed tournament overview and replays of these exciting games!

Frost on June 28th, 2008

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.

Frost on June 28th, 2008

Thousands of people from all around the world were present today at the opening of the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational. Welcomed by the Blizzard Europe’s Managing Director, Fred Menou, and Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of the Blizzard Entertainment, the attendees were treated to the announcement of Blizzard’s newest project, Diablo III. With a stunning trailer, and a gameplay video to whet their appetites, attendees will have the chance over the next two days to attend panels about the development and design of this latest installment of the Diablo universe. Everyone who didn't make it to the event in person can now watch our live stream instead!

Nebu on June 27th, 2008

The 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational, packed with tournaments, discussion panels, and other exciting events, is taking place this Saturday and Sunday, June 28-29 in Paris, France. If you're attending, have a safe trip and enjoy the show. If you couldn't make it this year, you can follow coverage throughout the weekend on our official Worldwide Invitational site.

The Diablo II ladder has been reset, wiping the slate clean and beginning the rush to be the first to level 99! In addition to the reset we've also released Diablo II patch 1.12a, which removes the requirement to have your Diablo II CD in the drive while playing. To download the patch either connect to Battle.net or visit our Patch Download page, and be sure to read the Patch Notes for further instructions.

We have added a new planet bio, Char.

Char was formerly one of the thirteen core worlds of the Confederacy, but it is most notorious as the primary hive planet of the alien zerg. Upon its discovery, Char was found to be an inhospitable volcanic planet with thick ash covering most of its surface and tainting its acrid atmosphere. The hazardous environment is further intensified by extremely high levels of cosmic radiation from Char's volatile pairing of binary stars, a class VI F0 sub dwarf orbiting an M8 irregular variable.

Read more about Char here. We have also added two new pieces of artwork and one new screenshot.

With StarCraft II advancing like a swarm of zerglings, J!NX has launched a new wave of StarCraft-themed gear. Show your support for your favorite race -- or keep your options open and support all three.

We recently answered a number of questions from the community regarding StarCraft II. Check out part 40 of the Q&A, along with the StarCraft II Q&A archive in the Battle.net forums.

We will be performing a Diablo II ladder reset on June 17 beginning at approximately 9:00 a.m. PDT. The reset is anticipated to require approximately six hours of downtime to complete, and during that time all Diablo II Battle.net realms will be unavailable for play. When the reset occurs all existing ladder characters will be moved to non-ladder. This provides a fresh start and new competition for leveling supremacy on the ladder realm.

For more information on the Diablo II ladder please visit our Ladder FAQ.

Episode 3 of BlizzCast takes us deeper into the development of both StarCraft II and Wrath of the Lich King. We start out interviewing Dustin Browder, Lead Designer of StarCraft II, in our 'Zerg Evolution into StarCraft II' interview. Next, we interview Lead Designer of World of Warcraft, Jeff Kaplan, about dungeon and raid design for both World of Warcraft and its upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Following, we bring on Joeyray Hall, Manager of Video Production, to chat with us about the magic that goes into the development of Machinima for World of Warcraft. Listen to the show now, or check out the transcript to see all the featured artwork.

We would like thank all the participants in our I <3 StarCraft contest. We received submissions from StarCraft fans all over the world and have compiled hundreds of them into a I <3 StarCraft photo mosaic.

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