Blizzard has revealed the lineup of “in-game goodies” which will be handed out to BlizzCon 2016 attendees, whether in person or purchasers of virtual tickets. It also released the schedule of esports competitions taking place in the week leading up to the event. This year's event sees pre-BlizzCon competition in World of Warcraft Arena, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, and StarCraft 2, as well as early group stage matches of the Overwatch World Cup, all streamed live and free.
For attendees, the digital swag on offer comprises a Legionnaire Murky and Knight-Captain Murky for World of Warcraft, a sweet-looking commemorative Overwatch skin for Bastion, a Diablo 3 pet modeled after the original Diablo character design, a “Welcome Inn” card back for Hearthstone, a Nexus Tiger mount for Heroes of the Storm, and “mystery goodies” for StarCraft 2. The items will be granted to anyone who attends the show in person (via a code received when you purchased your ticket) and also those who purchase a virtual ticket.
But before all that, we've got a packed week of digital bloodsport to enjoy. The Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone pre-BlizzCon competitions will begin at 9 am PDT on October 26, and run until October 28 for HotS and October 30 for Hearthstone. The StarCraft 2 Global Playoffs will begin at 8:30 am PDT on October 27, and on October 28 the top eight World of Warcraft Arena teams will square off in their first group stage matches. Finally, on October 29 the top 16 Overwatch teams will compete in three days of best-of-three round robin group stages, with the top eight finishers headed to single-elimination battles at BlizzCon.
The full BlizzCon opening week esports schedule is available here, and a breakdown of the digital goodie bag is here. BlizzCon 2016 runs over the weekend of November 4-5.
