Prospective attendees of Blizzard Entertainment's annual BlizzCon show should make haste to the BlizzCon official website, which offers numerous details pertaining to this year's event. Taking place over October 10 and 11 in Anaheim, California, BlizzCon will feature extensive World of WarCraft, StarCraft II and Diablo III information. Tickets for the event go on sale August 11.Thus far, the website offers instructions for fans looking to buy tickets, as well as information on a few of the developer panels, tournaments and contests that will be held at the show. The newest post provides details regarding what attendees might find in their goodie bags upon their arrival to the Blizzard Entertainment extravaganza....

The more popular a game, the more stringent its fan boys will be about directions deemed as off the beaten path. A Blizzard Entertainment job advertisement posted earlier this morning brought hope to many fans disappointed in the art style being employed by Diablo III. It would seem those protestors didn't take Blizzard's promise to stick by the art direction seriously, as Blizzard has responded to speculation surrounding the job ad.Explaining that the previous art director had resigned to pursue other interest, a Blizzard representative told Shacknews that whoever fills the position will not affect Diablo III's style. "We're really pleased with the look and feel ... [of] Diablo III, and the new person we bring on board will work with the other artists on the team to maintain the art style moving forward," the representative said.Those complaining about Diablo III's slightly lighter, more vibrant look claim that the aesthetics do not adhere to the series' dark tone allegedly maintained in the hit sequel and its Lord of Destruction expansion pack. What they seem to have forgotten is that many areas of Diablo II, such as the majority of Acts II and V, were quite a bit brighter than the darker, gothic atmosphere featured in the original game....

As if they didn't have enough subscribers, Blizzard Entertainment is eager to attract even more people to the growing World of WarCraft -- and they want you to help them. Blizzard has launched the Recruit-a-Friend program, which offers rewards such as mounts and triple experience points.According to sister site WoW Insider, reaping certain prizes, such as an in-game are available for those who can entice their buddies to register for two months of game time. Triple experience is gained by partying with your recruited friend, and friends can summon each other once per hour, making long-distance treks unnecessary.To learn every detail of the Recruit-a-Friend promotion, visit the official website found on WorldOfWarCraft.com....

When Blizzard first announced and showed off the first screenshots for Diablo III, many fans of the first two games in the action-RPG series felt that the art style for the new game was too colorful compared to the dark and gritty style of Diablo I and II. In fact an online petition with over 50,000 signatures was organized with the goal of asking Blizzard to reconsider their decisionWell, those folks had better get used to dissapointment. MTV's Multiplayer web site has Diablo III's lead designer Jay Wilson saying flat out that the art style is staying the way it is, thank you very much. "We're very happy with how the art style is. The art team's happy. The company's happy. We really like this art style, and we're not changing it." Indeed Wilson states it was changed for a good reason. If Diablo III's 3D engine had kept the dark art style of the first two games, players might not be able to see enemies as well. ...

During a recent interview with World of WarCraft designer Jeff Kaplan, MTV's multiplayer blog writer Tracey John learned that achievements will be integrated into Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming StarCraft II and Diablo III titles.Recently announced for the upcoming World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack, Kaplan confirmed that achievements will be included in all Blizzard games released in the future. "As we graduate to [a] Blizzard Account system ... it will switch over to a Blizzard Level," said Kaplan.Achievements earned in games such as Wrath of the Lich King will be encapsulated and accumulated in your Blizzard score, which will be a part of each player's account. Similar to an Xbox Live gamerscore, other players will be able to view statistics such as your score and the achievements you have and have not attained....

Ask Conan what's best in life, and he'll give you his usual rundown with one extra addition: to hear the lamentations of Blizzard Entertainment when they notice a decline in World of WarCraft subscribers. During a conference call made earlier this week, Blizzard's Mike Morhaime admitted that many of Age of Conan: Hyborin Adventures' new players have been raided from the Alliance and the Horde, but feels confident that most WoW players will return to Azeroth.After leaving to try out Age of Conan, Morhaime claims that "about 40 per cent of those players return to World of Warcraft," leaving Blizzard to speculate (perhaps correctly) that most players only tried Age of Conan because it was the new kid on the block.Morhaime touted just that during the conference call, boasting that any new MMO "isn't just competing with the amount and breadth of content that we launched with back in 2004" -- World of WarCraft's countless content update and fixes have honed the MMO to what it is today: the most popular kid on the block, even if it won't ever be the newest.Speaking of new, the highly anticipated World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion will be released during the fourth quarter of 2008....

During Activision Blizzard's conference call with investors today following the release of Activision's final stand alone financial results (you can listen into the repeat of the conference on the publisher's web site), Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime stated that the release date of their next commercial expansion pack for their hit MMO World of Warcraft would be released sometime in the last quarter of 2008 (October-December). The expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King, recently entered a new phase of beta testing.In other Blizzard news, Morhaime said that their other two announced projects, Diablo III and Starcraft II, were both "heavily in development" but as usual he would not talk about release dates. He also said that they are staffing up for working on their next unannounced MMO project but would not comment further on that project....

Blizzard continues to expand its influence on the rest of the world via their hugely successful MMO World of Warcraft. Today the developer announced that they will launch servers for the game in Russia and give those players a Russian language version of the game.The Russian version will launch on August 6 and be fully supported by a Russian based customer support team. Russian players who already play World of Warcraft will be able to download a local language pack for the game and can have a free transfer to the Russian servers for a limited time. This is the fifth language for the game in Europe (it already has English, French, German and Spanish versions)....

It's been a little while since we have heard any news on Blizzcon 2008, the somewhat-annual event held by Blizzard to celebrate their game franchises like Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo. Today Blizzard issued a press release announcing that tickets for the event will go on sale on August 11 for $100 at the official Blizzcon web site. Tickets usually sell out extremely quickly but Blizzard is expected to offer free tickets via contests as they have done for previous Blizzcon events.The event, which will be held Oct 10-11 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, will also be broadcast as a pay-per-view event exclusively on the DirecTV satellite TV service with at least eight hours of live HD programming per day. In August new subscribers to DirecTV will get a promotion offering free access to the Blizzcon pay-per-view. Pricing for existing subscribers has yet to be annouced....

Normally we wouldn't make a big deal about a couple of new screenshots for an upcoming game but if that game is something like Diablo III, that's something different. In fact we just happen to have two new in-game screenshots for Blizzard's next title in the fantasy action-RPG series. It's the first new screenshots from the title that Blizzard have released since the inital announcement last month.If you are interested in even more visuals from the game you can check out the official Diablo III web site for a few more new concept art pieces and a new wallpaper. The title has gotten fans so excited that after even before the official reveal they have pushed the first two games in the series back to the top 10 best selling PC games list (via the collection Diablo Battle Chest)....

The beta test for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King has been opened up to more participants and naturally players of the biggest MMO ever want to be the first to try out the new content in Blizzard's next commercial expansion pack. And just as naturally people want to exploit that excitement for a few extra bucks.Eurogamer has a story that reports that eBay sales of those beta card keys that were given out at Blizzcon 2007 and at last month's Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event are fetching huge sales numbers. One beta key card was sold for a whopping $1,021 on eBay. Of course you could just wait and be invited to the beta test but if you absolutely, positively have to get in the test now (and have way too much disposable income) going on eBay to buy one of those cards could be your best bet....

Blizzard continues to tease and taunt us with new screenshots from their long awaited RTS sequel Starcraft II. This time the shots concentrate not on a unit but a location, specifically from the planet Mar Sara, a Terran settled world that was first featured in the original Starcraft game.As you can see from the shots, Mar Sara looks an awful lot like the American West complete with some retro-style buildings. There's no word yet no how the planet will be used in Starcraft II. Come to think of it we don't have a lot of info on Starcraft II period, including when the game will be released. Darn you, Blizzards with your screenshot teases....

Are you ready for yet another financial results news story? Well, we have one for you. This time its for Vivendi as the parent company of Vivendi Games announced its fiscal result for both the first half of 2008 as well as the last quarter that ended on June 30 This is the last time that Vivendi Games will likely be mentioned in a financial press release due to the just completed merger with Activision to form Activision Blizzard.For the last quarter, Vivendi Games generated €223 million, of which €185 million came from the Blizzard Entertainment division. Revenues were up 17.9 percent overall compared to the same period a year ago. For the first half of 2008, Blizzard generated €378 million in revenue as subscriptions for their World of Warcraft MMO continue to climb, reaching 10.9 million by the end of June. Vivendi now owns 54 percent of the newly merged Activision Blizzard....

Earlier reports suggested that, due to Activision and Vivendi's merger into industry behemoth Activision Blizzard, some staff redundancies would result in more than a few lost jobs. New reports reveal that staff layoffs are coming, and Vivendi's UK branch will bear the brunt of the burden.GamesIndustry.biz reports that "the majority of the Vivendi team, which oversees the Sierra games label among other things, will face job losses." Some senior team members will be invited to re-apply for new roles within the company. How generous.Furthermore, a number of upcoming Sierra titles have been under close scrutiny since the Activision Blizzard merger and may not see eventual release dates. Specific details such as which titles might be permanently vaulted have not been revealed....

Big Download's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from E3 week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute. KOTOR MMO confirmed by Electronic ArtsWe've had plenty of speculation -- lots and lots of it -- but now we've got confirmation from Electronic Arts chief executive John Riccitiello that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is indeed getting a massively multiplayer online iteration. Portfolio.com has the story. Wrath of the Lich King Beta is now openToday is pretty much a landmark day for MMOs. Earlier today an interview with EA executive John confirmed the existence of the KOTOR MMO. That's enough for any two days. Why not add the unveiling of the Closed Beta test for the west's most popular MMO into the mix? That's right, the download instructions for Wrath of the Lich King's Beta client are now up on the official World of Warcraft website. Our sister site WoW Insider is carrying the news, noting that this is just the beginning of the ramp up to full Beta testing. Mythos beta is shutting down tonightThe woes continue at Flagship Studios. It was just announced that the Mythos beta will shutdown tonight. The official time slotted for its cease of operations is at July 18th, 2008 at 11:59 CST. Community manager Tiggs left the message on the forums which are also due to close at the same time. Blizzard victorious in WoW Glider caseVirtually Blind is reporting that the WoW Glider case has been resolved in Blizzard's favor. The maker of the epic fantasy MMO has long contended that the MDY developers are infringing on the company's copyright. MDY makes the WoW Glider bot software, possibly the most popular of a series of options that allow an unattended computer to 'play" World of Warcraft. E308: DC Universe Online roundupSony Entertainment Online revealed a metric ton of new information on their upcoming superhero MMO DC Universe Online at E3 this week, and Massively was on hand to pick the spicy brainmeats of Creative Director Chris Cao, SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely, and famed DC artist and Executive Creative Director for the project, Jim Lee. ...