Blizzard Entertainment creative team, DC Comics and Christie Golden led the Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo Swag Show Panel at the San Diego Comic Con in 2011.
The next San Diego Comic Con 2013 will happen on July 18-21, barely two months from now. The exhibitor list is still unavailable and Blizzard Entertainment has made no announcements at this point.
Social Monsters PR coordinator recently sent me an SDCC infographic to put into perspective the importance of this convention.
San Diego Comic Con is a 4-day multi-genre convention featuring the latest in comic book news, exclusive film and video game previews, celebrity guest panels and limited edition collectibles.
SDCC is currently the third largest comic con in the world with 130,000 attendees, barely surpassed by Japan and France’s convention.
It’s incredible that a convention of this magnitude internally operates with only 20-30 staff employees.
At the event itself, however, the organization counts with the support of 3,000 volunteers who get free access to the event.
Like BlizzCon, San Diego Comic Con has grown really quick the past four years. In 2009, tickets sold out after six months. In 2010, within 2 months. Out of the blue, fans went into an online frenzy attempting to get a ticket. It was sold out within 2 hours.
2012 and 2013? Within 90 minutes all tickets were sold out. This no doubt grabs the attention of video game studios, and other companies. There is a very high demand for tickets.
The infographics submitted by Ana Franklin (Social Monsters) provides another interesting analysis.
A single Super Bowl generates approximately $300 million. The estimated annual regional economic impact of the Comic Con was $180 million. A bit short in comparison with the Super Bowl, but it’s nigh there. Remember … Comic Con tickets began to sold out quicker than ever before since 2010-2013 which opens the door for future expansion.
The San Diego Convention Center is planning to increase floor space by 33% by 2016. By then, the floor space will be about 13 football fields long.
This type of infographics data might be in consideration by Blizzard Entertainment. We have been used to hear about upcoming Blizzard video games at BlizzCon, but the truth is that in the past 3 years Blizzard Entertainment has begun a trend of making announcements or bringing panels to other conventions outside BlizzCon.
For example, Diablo III (PS3) was playable by PAX East 2013 attendees, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft was announced at the same event just a few weeks ago.
At the Blizzard Entertainment Publishing Panel, Micky Neilson, Dave Kosak, UDON & Michael Stackpole announced upcoming novels and books at the New York Comic Con 2012. I was there and brought you video coverage. They announced World of Warcraft: Dawn of the Aspects, World of Warcraft: Vol’jin, Shadows of the Horde, StarCraft II: Flashpoint, Diablo III: Heroes Rise, Darkness Falls, and the UDON World of Warcraft Tribute Art Book.
At the New York Comic Con 2011, I saw Insight Editions show the Art of Blizzard, and the Diablo III: Book of Cain. Nate Kenyon signed copies of StarCraft: Ghost – Spectres. The ESL Intel Extreme Masters tournament was celebrated there too.
In 2011, Blizzard made a few announcements at GamesCom (Germany): World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Patch 4.3 details, Diablo III Inferno Mode, Blizzard DOTA (now Blizzard All-Stars) and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Evolution Chamber UI and some single player missions.
As seen, these past 3-4 years have been busy for Blizzard Entertainment making announcements about either video games or licensed products outside BlizzCon.
San Diego Comic Con looks like a good candidate to continue Blizzard’s creative growth, and even better, it’s close to home — about two-hours-drive south of their Irvine headquarters. Will the SDCC be one day a center stage for video game announcements or gameplay demo stations? Only time will tell.
Thanks to BuyCostumes.com for bringing you this infographic!
