Tag Archives: Blizzard Entertainment

Video Gaming

MOBAs: The Emergence of the Free-to-Play Craze

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Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games, more commonly referred to as MOBAs, are all the rage lately. Thanks to the success of games like League of Legends and Dota 2, a lot of developers are trying to hop on the bandwagon. But what exactly are MOBAs and what makes these types of games so popular? More importantly, why are there so many developers trying to create MOBAs all of a sudden?

Before we can take a look at why MOBAs are so successful today, let’s quickly learn where they come from. In 2003, a mod was created for Blizzard Entertainment’s highly successful real-time strategy game, Warcraft III. The mod was called Defense of the Ancients, or DotA, for short.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

BlizzCon® 2013 Tickets On Sale April 24 and April 27

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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BlizzCon ® 2013 Tickets On Sale April 24 and April 27

Blizzard warning in effect for Southern California!

Massive Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® community gathering coming to Anaheim Convention Center November 8-9

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Get ready for a storm of epic proportions! Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that tickets for its seventh BlizzCon® gaming convention will go on sale in two batches on April 24 and April 27. In addition, a limited number of tickets to an exclusive pre-BlizzCon dinner to benefit Children’s Hospital of Orange County will go on sale May 1.

Set to tear through the Anaheim Convention Center this November 8 and 9, BlizzCon is a thundering celebration of all things Warcraft®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®. The annual-ish two-day community gathering features in-depth discussion panels with Blizzard developers, hands-on play time with the latest Blizzard games, and tons of other exciting events and activities. As announced earlier this week, BlizzCon 2013 will also host the StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Finals—a high-stakes showdown where the top pro players in the world will battle for the right to be crowned StarCraft II World Champion.

“We love having the opportunity to hang out with our players at BlizzCon, and it’s always awesome to see the greatest gaming community on earth swarm Anaheim,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We look forward to delivering two full days of gaming, activities, and other entertainment, and we can’t wait to show some of the exciting projects we’ve been working on.”

Tickets to attend the convention will be priced at $175 USD each and will be available for purchase from the official BlizzCon website (www.blizzcon.com) in two separate batches. The first batch goes on sale Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. Pacific time, and the second batch goes on sale Saturday, April 27 at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

Tickets to the BlizzCon Benefit Dinner, which include admission to BlizzCon, will be priced at $500 USD each, with proceeds going to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (http://www.choc.org). Taking place the evening of November 7, this exclusive event offers guests an opportunity to /eat, /drink, and /lol with Blizzard game developers, community managers, and other folks from Blizzard before the show. Approximately 200 tickets to the benefit dinner will be available for purchase beginning Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. Pacific time through www.blizzcon.com.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

News, Politics, Government

Blizzard Establishes First Ever Global StarCraft II ESports Ranking System

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By John Gaudiosi, Contributor

As anyone who follows the burgeoning world of eSports, or professional gaming, knows, it’s sometimes difficult to track down who’s on top in the competitive StarCraft II landscape. Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision Blizzard Publishing, hopes to make things easier for pro gaming fans this year with the launch of the new StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS). …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Video Gaming

Call of Duty: Ghosts Rumors & Blizzard Announces New Warcraft

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Daily Fix Video

Activision’s next Call of Duty title is reportedly called Call of Duty: Ghosts.

During a panel at the Penny Arcade Expo, Blizzard Entertainment announced Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

Square Enix has confirmed that Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 are coming to PlayStation 3 and Vita remastered in HD. 

Blizzard has announced that 1.1 million copies of Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm were sold during the expansion’s first two days on sale.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

Video Gaming

IGN News: Blizzard Reveals Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

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During a panel at the Penny Arcade Expo, Blizzard Entertainment announced Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. It’s the next game the company will release, and it’s a free-to-play collectible card game “focused primarily on one-on-one.” It boasts 300+ cards, with five cards coming in each pack you earn or purchase, and uses Battle.net matchmaking. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

News, Politics, Government

Blizzard Entertainment Embraces Free To Play Gaming With Hearthstone: Heroes Of Warcraft

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By John Gaudiosi, Contributor

At PAX East 2013 in Boston, Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Activision Blizzard Publishing) is offering gamers the first chance to get hands-on gameplay with the new cross-platform free-to-play (F2P) game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The virtual cards game, which will be entering beta testing soon, will be available on PC, Mac and iPad tablets. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Video Gaming

Blizzard Reveals Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

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During a panel at the Penny Arcade Expo, Blizzard Entertainment announced Heartstone: Heroes of Warcraft. It’s the next game the company will release, and it’s a free-to-play collectible card game “focused primarily on one-on-one.” It boasts 300+ cards, with five cards coming in each pack you earn or purchase, and uses Battle.net matchmaking.

You can register for the beta now.

Card crafting allows players to consolidate duplicate cards of various types. This feeds into the deck-building system, which is as automatic or micro-management heavy as you desire. You’ll build your deck around your class, such as a rogue, both in terms of the kinds of skills and buffs you bring into battle, and the class-specific cards you’re able to use. A medal ranking system categorizes duelists by skill, similar to Starcraft II. Hearthstone is coming to PC and Mac in addition to iPad, which will release later, though feature and networking parity remains to be seen. The current goal is to release Hearthstone in the same territories World of Warcraft is currently available.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

Video Gaming

Blizzard Reveals Heartstone: Heroes of Warcraft

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During a panel at the Penny Arcade Expo, Blizzard Entertainment announced Heartstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

Blizzard created a new team of 15 developers, and describes them as fast and experimental. It was conceived to cook up different styles of games, smaller scale but in line with the “epic Blizard” style.

Developing…

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor at IGN. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Blizzard Entertainment Announces Hearthstone™: Heroes of Warcraft™

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Blizzard Entertainment Announces Hearthstone ™ : Heroes of Warcraft ™

New free-to-play strategy card game for PC and iPad ® lets you hang up your sword . . . and throw down your gauntlet

Hands-on demos at PAX East this weekend, beta test starting soon

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Pull up a chair across from an old friend at the tavern table and prepare for a few rounds of lively card-vs.-card warfare. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. laid its virtual cards on the table today with the unveiling of Hearthstone™: Heroes of Warcraft™, a new cross-platform free-to-play game for Windows®, Macintosh®, and iPad®.

In Hearthstone, players build card decks centered around one of nine iconic Warcraft® character classes and duel each other for fun, glory, and the chance to win awesome new cards. PAX East attendees are able to go hands-on with Hearthstone this weekend, and Blizzard will begin beta testing for the game very soon—no, seriously.

“We’ve always loved collectible card games at Blizzard, so it’s been exciting to bring everything we love about the genre to life in Hearthstone,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re putting a lot of focus into creating a fun new game that’s easy to pick up and play, but also has a lot of depth. We can’t wait to share it with everyone.”

Deceptively simple in design but epically engaging, Hearthstone will be instantly accessible to players regardless of their familiarity with Warcraft or collectible card games. Whether players prefer to wield magic or arms in battle, strike from the shadows or head on—or have never given any of that much thought—they’ll be able to jump right in, create a deck, and get in on the card-slinging action.

In addition to honing their skills in practice matches against the computer and taking on their buddies via their Battle.net® friends list, players can challenge each other in two competitive game modes. “Play Mode” features traditional head-to-head battles, with players facing off for a chance to increase their medal ranking and earn card packs along the way. And for a different type of challenge, players can enter “The Forge,” where they start each match by building a deck from a new set of cards, and then use that deck to duel other Forge participants. Aside from winning new cards, players will be able to round out their collections by purchasing new card packs or …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

More Than 1 Million Gamers Take Part in Global Zerg Invasion

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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More Than 1 Million Gamers Take Part in Global Zerg Invasion

More than 1.1 million viewers tuned into StarCraft II ® : Heart of the Swarm ™ launch broadcast

More than 1.1 million eSports fans watched StarCraft II competition at Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Winter Championship

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced a trio of milestones achieved during the launch week of StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™. More than 1.1 million viewers tuned into the company’s 21-hour, global broadcast of launch events and community celebrations around the world, with peak concurrent viewership reaching over 125,000, as reported by Twitch. As of the end of its first two days of sales, Heart of the Swarm had sold through approximately 1.1 million copies worldwide, including both retail and digital sales.

Last weekend, more than 1.1 million viewers tuned in to see the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm tournament at the Major League Gaming (MLG) Winter Championship in Dallas, Texas. Heart of the Swarm reached a peak concurrent viewership of more than 157,000 viewers, as reported by Twitch.

“We want to thank the global StarCraft community for the incredible passion and support they’ve shown for Heart of the Swarm,“said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “In addition to a brand-new single-player campaign, we added a ton of enhancements with this expansion to make StarCraft II even more fun to play, and more exciting to watch. We’re pleased to see gamers and eSports fans around the world enjoying Heart of the Swarm.”

“StarCraft II has been a premier game at Major League Gaming events since Wings of Liberty® was released,“said Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO of Major League Gaming. “Heart of the Swarm has generated even more excitement, and we’re all looking forward to what the future brings for StarCraft II eSports.”

“StarCraft II has always been one of the most popular games on Twitch, and we’ve noticed a wave of new viewership since Heart of the Swarm launched last week,” said Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch. “Viewer numbers are up just about across the board for the most popular StarCraft II pro-gamers and personalities who stream on Twitch.”

Learn more about StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm at http://www.StarCraft2.com. With multiple games in development, Blizzard Entertainment has numerous positions currently open—visit http://jobs.blizzard.com …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

News, Politics, Government

MLG Founder Sundance DiGiovanni Believes ESports Will Be Mainstream Within 10 Years

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By John Gaudiosi, Contributor

With the world of pro gaming focused on Texas this weekend for the MLG Dallas Winter Championship, eSports continues to grow. There are new games added to the mix with Activision and Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. And live streaming numbers continue to catapult worldwide. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Zerg Rush! StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™ Now Live

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Zerg Rush! StarCraft ® II: Heart of the Swarm ™ Now Live

New expansion follows Kerrigan through vengeance-fueled campaign, adds deadly new multiplayer units, and introduces several new features for players of all skill levels

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Hail to the Queen of Blades! Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today set off a global zerg invasion with the launch of StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™, the next chapter in the epic saga of StarCraft® II. Kerrigan has arrived, and with the help of her brood, she aims to take down Arcturus Mengsk once and for all.

Players can now purchase Heart of the Swarm in retail stores throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Russia, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as digitally via the game’s official website (www.StarCraft2.com). Release plans for mainland China will be announced at a later date.

“Heart of the Swarm enhances every aspect of StarCraft II,“said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “In addition to Kerrigan’s campaign and the new multiplayer units and maps, we think players will really enjoy the new online elements and new features that make StarCraft II more fun and easier to learn than ever before.”


Standard, Collector’s, and Digital Deluxe Editions

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is now available at retailers nationwide on DVD-ROM for Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7/Windows® 8 and Macintosh® (suggested retail price $39.99). The expansion can also be purchased directly from Blizzard at www.StarCraft2.com for $39.99. In addition, Blizzard is offering a retail-exclusive Collector’s Edition of Heart of the Swarm loaded with digital and physical bonus items, available at select retail stores for a suggested retail price of $79.99.

Players also have the option to purchase a Digital Deluxe version of the expansion, which includes all of the digital items from the Collector’s Edition, directly from Blizzard via www.StarCraft2.com for $59.99. Anyone who purchases the standard edition digitally or at retail can upgrade to the Digital Deluxe version at any time (for as long as the standalone Digital Deluxe version remains available) for an additional $20.

The Digital Deluxe version of Heart of the …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Science & Technology

Blizzard Entertainment Developers Launch Gamers Into StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm

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By John Gaudiosi

Around the globe, PC gamers are already battling it out in Blizzard Entertainment?s StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. The new game from Activision Blizzard Publishing had launch celebrations around the world, including at the Irvine GameStop just down the road from Blizzard?s studio. With many gamers still locked out of Electronic Arts’ SimCity, the PC world will turn its time and attention to the Zerg. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Technology

News, Politics, Government

Wargaming ESports Head Caleb Fox Explains What World Of Tanks Learned From League Of Legends

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By John Gaudiosi, Contributor

The competitive gaming world is getting more competition beyond Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft II, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Riot Games’ League of Legends. Wargaming, which just bolstered its size with the acquisition of Gas Powered Games, is putting up $2.5 million for the first season of its Wargaming.net League. The game publisher is counting on its 50 million World of Tanks players to follow the competition, as well as feed a new generation of pros into the competitive field. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Movies & TV

Warcraft Movie Director Reportedly Hired

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Source Code and Moon director Duncan Jones will reportedly direct the feature film version of Blizzard Entertainment‘s video game franchise Warcraft for Legendary Pictures.

“The Warner Bros.-based production and finance outfit is eyeing a fall 2013 start and a 2015 release,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Warcraft is expected to have a budget north of $100 million.”

UPDATE: And now there’s already a casting rumor about the film. The Tracking Board claims “there is interest

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Movies

News, Politics, Government

Blizzard Game Director Dustin Browder Explains Why StarCraft II Pro Gamers Are Athletes

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By John Gaudiosi, ContributorWith a new year of eSports upon us, Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Activision Blizzard Publishing) has big plans for its StarCraft II franchise. The new Heart of the Swarm expansion, which launches in March, will add new elements for pro gamers and pro gaming fans. Dustin Browder, game director […]
Source: Forbes Latest