Blizzard announced today the very first Blizzard Convention, to take place on October 28 & 29 in Orange County, California. BlizzCon is a celebration of our Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises and the players who have helped make them so popular around the world. Read more for details ...

In a followup to our story from April 28th, it seems Monday, June 20, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in Blizzard v. BnetD, a case that could dramatically impact consumers' ability to customize software and electronic devices and to obtain customized tools created by others (thanks Blues).

"A number of additional accounts and CD keys have been tied to the use of a hack or cheat program while playing Warcraft III on Battle.net. In keeping with our aggressive stance against cheating, we have permanently closed 53,928 Warcraft III accounts. 8,168 of the Warcraft III CD keys used with the now-closed accounts have been banned from ladder play for one month, and 3,331 more have been banned from ladder play permanently. Repeat offenders risk having their CD keys disabled, which will result in the permanent removal of their copies of Warcraft III from Battle.net."

Blizzard Entertainment today announced that it has completed the acquisition of acclaimed console developer Swingin' Ape Studios. The Swingin' Ape team boasts more than 50 games' worth of collective design and development experience across all major platforms.

Blizzard issued a small statement announcing they have once again banned a slew of Warcraft 3 accounts from players who were using hacks to cheat. "A number of additional accounts and CD keys have been tied to the use of a hack or cheat program while playing Warcraft III on Battle.net. In keeping with our aggressive stance against cheating, we have permanently closed 5,900 Warcraft III accounts. 2,300 of the Warcraft III CD keys used with the now-closed accounts have been banned from ladder play for one month, and 500 more have been banned from ladder play permanently." Read more about it on the official Blizzard website.

"Over the recent weeks we have been investigating the activities of certain individuals who have been farming gold in order to sell it in exchange for real world currency. After researching the situation, we have issued permanent suspensions to over one thousand accounts that have been engaging in this practice. We do not condone such actions and will take decisive action as they are against our policy and damage the game economy as a whole. We will continue researching this matter. If you suspect someone of taking part in said gold farming, please eMail the report to wowgm@blizzard.com."

GameSpy is reporting that LotR: Battle for Middle-earth design director Dustin Browder will be leaving EA, effective March 9, to team up with Blizzard as senior designer. The former Westwood employee worked on titles like Red Alert 2 and C&C Generals, and while Dustin did not disclose what Blizzard project he would be working on, he did confirm his new position was with the Warcraft/WoW team, and with his strategy background it could be a new Warcraft of Starcraft product. The article also states that another ex-Westwood employee, nobody less than EA's VP and Executive Producer Mark Skaggs is taken a leave of absense for personal/family reason.

In a statement posted on the official Everquest 2 website, Sony Online claims "EverQuest II continues to grow at an amazing rate, not just in the number of players that have fallen in love with the game's rich, entertaining content, but also in the physical size of the world. We've got over 350,000 people logging in to our servers every week, with no delays or wait times and the game they are playing is only getting better." An obvious remark aimed at Blizzard's continuous server problems with World of Warcraft. SOE offers

A job listing on the Blizzard homepage is looking for "an experienced Game Designer to help lead the team that designed Diablo and Diablo II," and have "Experience working on an RPG titles" (thanks EvilAvatar). Could this mean they are hiring for for a yet unannounced Diablo III? The job listing does not specifically mention anything relating to Diablo III, so time will tell.

Blizzard President Mike Morhaime has addressed the WoW community to shed some light on the recent downtime and apologies for the problems some of the players may have been experiencing on the servers. "I am sure that many of you are wondering what has been going on with the World of Warcraft servers, as there was another period of extended downtime during peak hours last night.... Last night, we took down 20 realms for emergency maintenance.... Players on these same 20 realms also experienced service interruptions earlier in the week... Therefore, in addition to the three days already credited to these players as a result of the server issues earlier in the week, players on these realms will be receiving an additional four-day credit to their accounts." Read the full statement on the official WoW forums...

A number of additional accounts and CD keys have been tied to the use of a hack or cheat program while playing Warcraft III on Battle.net. In keeping with their aggressive stance against cheating, Blizzard has permanently closed 12,000 Warcraft III accounts. 6,000 of the Warcraft III CD keys used with the now-closed accounts have been banned from ladder play for one month, and 1,000 more have been banned from ladder play permanently. Repeat offenders risk having their CD keys disabled, which will result in the permanent removal of their copies of Warcraft III from Battle.net.

Over the weekend Blizzard updated some of the World of Warcraft database hardware in order to improve performance. This update required extended downtime for certain realms as data was transferred from the launch servers to the new servers. Due to the extended nature of the server issues, Blizzard will be providing a free 48-hour extension of play time, which will show up as free extra time on your current billing period. You can read more about it on the official World of Warcraft website...

On December 22 many players were unable to access World of Warcraft for approximately seven hours, due to server problems. Blizzard will address this issue by automatically extending the trial period of all players who created an account on or before December 22 (11:59 PM PST) for an additional day.

Blizzard is not only hunting down people using cheats in World of Warcraft but not also taking action against people selling items for real money of Ebay. "It has come to our attention that certain individuals are selling Blizzard's in-game property for cash on auction sites such as eBay and on personal websites. The World of Warcraft Terms of Use clearly state that all of the content in World of Warcraft is the property of Blizzard, and Blizzard does not allow "in game" items to be sold for real money." Read the full article here ...

Blizzard keeps its users on a tight rope as over 300 accounts have been banned so far. "We have recently verified that certain individuals were using third party "bot" programs to automate their characters in World of Warcraft. A bot is used to play an account non-stop, allowing its user to accumulate money, items, and experience without actually requiring the user to be physically present to play the game. The use of bots is a violation of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use and is absolutely prohibited. Therefore, the accounts identified as having used bots have been banned."

Blizzard issued a small statement in which they reveal a serious hacking violation in World of Warcraft, one for which Blizzard obviously has zero tolerance. Certain individuals have been identified as using speed hacks to accelerate their characters. This goes against the theme of fair play that is instituted for the game, and is in clear violation of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. Those individuals who were caught using the speed hack have been banned from the game and have had their accounts closed.

Blizzard Entertainment today announced that its eagerly awaited massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft will be in stores in North America on November 23, 2004. World of Warcraft will launch simultaneously in Australia and New Zealand, and is planned for release in Korea, Europe, and other countries throughout Asia shortly following.

Ex-Senior members of critically acclaimed developers Naughty Dog and Blizzard Entertainment announced today the formation of their new console game development company, Ready At Dawn Studios. Ready At Dawn Studios has been founded by Didier Malenfant, former senior programmer at Naughty Dog, Andrea Pessino and Ru Weerasuriya, respectively former senior software engineer and senior artist at Blizzard Entertainment. Together, the management team for Ready At Dawn Studios represents over 35 years of game development experience.

The creators of the massively popular computer game franchise "Diablo" announced today the formation of their new entertainment software development company, Flagship Studios. Flagship Studios has been founded by David Brevik, Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, Bill Roper and Kenneth Williams, all former executives at Blizzard North. David Brevik served as President while Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer and Bill Roper held Vice President positions within the company. Ken Williams was Blizzard North's Director of Business and Operations. Together, the management and executive team for Flagship Studios represents over 45 years of game development experience.

Do you have the passion to create, and the will to forge great games? Blizzard Entertainment now has the following job positions open:

New Job Opening - Community Manager
Blizzard is in need of an organized and highly sociable person to oversee communications between their development teams and the World of Warcraft community. Fans of massively multiplayer games that also have a background in PR, journalism, or Web site/fan site management are encouraged to apply for this unique opportunity. Complete information can be found in their Community Manager job posting.

New Job Opening - Senior Game Masters
Blizzard looking for experienced GM's to take the lessons learned working on other MMORPGs and apply them to supporting one of the most highly anticipated gaming titles in years - World of Warcraft. If you've got the passion for massively multiplayer games and the industry know-how required, apply for the Senior Game Master position today!

New Job Opening - Game Masters
Are you a die-hard MMORPG player interested in becoming a part of the GM support staff for an upcoming MMORPG? Good news! Blizzard just opened up another round of entry-level Game Master positions for World of Warcraft, so check out the Game Master job posting to see if this is the job you've been waiting for.

Blizzard Entertainment today announced that lead programmer Rick Seis has accepted the role of development team lead for Blizzard North. In his new position, Seis will focus on leading Blizzard North's concentrated team of developers while assuming the day-to-day responsibilities for maintaining and promoting the group's success. Additionally, Blizzard North will be streamlining their teams into one core group in order to focus their development efforts on one key project. Further information regarding the specifics of their next project will be announced at a future date.

The founders of the company that created popular computer game series "Diablo" have left their positions at a unit of game publisher Vivendi Universal Games, the company said in a statement on Monday. The high-profile departures come at a crucial time for Vivendi Universal Games, which is the object of a possible sale by French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal. Read more for details ...

Blizzard today announced that it has begun shipping "Rock N' Roll Racing" for the Game Boy Advance under its Blizzard Classic Arcade label. `Rock N' Roll Racing' was one of the first games that Blizzard developed, and we've received numerous requests to make the title available again," stated Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment president and co-founder. "We have extremely fond memories of the game, and we look forward to bringing it to a new generation of players."

Blizzard, part of Vivendi Universal Games is looking for a European PR manager to be based at its office in Velizy, near Paris. French language skills are useful but not essential. But the successful candidate will need at least three to five years experience in PR, a degree and some knowledge of organising events. Send a CV, salary history and cover letter here or to Vivendi Universal Games Intnl, Recruitment Department, 32 Avenue de L'Europe, Immeuble Energy 1, 78 457 Velizy Villcoublay cedex, France.

Blizzard is proud to announce that we will be selecting 10,000 additional participants to facilitate the ongoing testing process of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. We are extremely pleased with the results and feedback that the beta test is generating and would like to offer the opportunity for even more players to experience all the new features that the Frozen Throne has to offer. Those who signed up for the Beta Test will now have another chance to participate in and play-test the Beta as we proceed into the next phase of our testing process. These additional participants can expect to receive an e-mail from us confirming their participation in the next few days. We would like to once again thank everyone who applied, and we ask that you please continue to visit the Warcraft 3 website for more information on the game. We look forward to seeing all the new faces on Battle.net.