BlizzCon 2010 Gaming Convention celebrating the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo game universes and their global player communities will begin on Friday (October 22) at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

Attendees of the convention will be able to play the latest versions of Blizzard Entertainment games. They can also speak with developers in discussion panels and witness live top-tier tournament competition as well as participate in a wide range of activities, and meet with fellow gamers and friends.

Jay Mohr returns as master of ceremonies for the community contests on Friday, featuring the popular dance and costume competitions. The show will close on Saturday evening with a concert with the Tenacious D: Jack Black and Kyle Gass. The band will perform and debut their new songs on an "earth-shattering" set at BlizzCon.

Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime: "We look forward to providing a truly entertaining and informative convention experience to all attendees, as well as those joining us remotely from around the world."

"BlizzCon offers a great opportunity for us to meet our players and share the latest news about Blizzard games with them, and with the help of Tenacious D, we're sure this year's show will be one the audience will never forget."

Those unable to attend the BlizzCon may purchase a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket. The ticket featurs more than 50 hours of live HD coverage and the exclusive BlizzCon 2010 World of Warcraft in-game pet and StarCraft II in-game items. The package can be availed globally via Internet stream and also through DIRECTV satellite television service in the United States.

There will be a limited streaming coverage of the BlizzCon opening ceremony and certain BlizzCon tournaments will be available via the Internet for free. For more information, visit the official BlizzCon website.

BlizzCon 2010 is sponsored by ASUS, DIRECTV, Intel, and NVIDIA; the gold-level sponsors are Antec, Razer, Western Digital, SteelSeries, and Vasco.

Attendees interested in pursuing career opportunities at Blizzard Entertainment can bring their resumes, demo reels, art portfolios, or business cards, as the global staffing team will be on hand to accept materials and discuss any job-related questions.