Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc. will hold its annual fanfest Nov. 2 and 3 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The first set of BlizzCon tickets will go on sale at 7 p.m. on May 9, the second batch at 10 a.m. on May 12. They’ll be released through online ticketing service Universe and cost $199, plus fees.
BlizzCon tickets sell out within minutes of release.
Last year’s installment drew a record crowd of 30,000 who came through the doors of the Anaheim Convention Center, and millions more who watched the gaming action, panel discussions and other content from mobile devices or at home through virtual tickets, which cost $40 each.
Virtual ticket pricing and availability for this year’s show will be released later.
As part of BlizzCon week, an exclusive dinner on Nov. 1 at the Hilton Anaheim Hotel will benefit Children’s Hospital of Orange County, providing fans an opportunity to meet Blizzard executives, developers, artists and other staffers. Tickets go on sale on May 16 for $750 each, plus fees, and include BlizzCon admission.
BlizzCon Opening Week will feature plenty of esports action from Oct. 25 to 29 at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, where the initial rounds of the StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Finals, the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship Finals, and World of Warcraft Arena World Championship Finals will be held. The competitions culminate at BlizzCon, where the champions of the tournaments, the Overwatch World Cup and Hearthstone Global Games, will be crowned.
Blizzard is Orange County’s largest software maker, employing 2,000 in OC and more than 4,000 worldwide. It posted sales last year of $2.1 billion, down 13% year-over-year, with operating income of $712 million, down 28%.
The decline was partially attributed to the wild success of “Overwatch,” which has sold more than 30 million copies since its May 2016 release and is on its way to becoming a $1 billion business.
OC Loss
OC, which has a long history of developing video game publishers, scaling them and adding new ones, lost one to Los Angeles.
The U.S. division of fast-growing South Korean mobile gaming company Netmarble Games Corp. is moving from Buena Park to 600 Wilshire Blvd. in the downtown business district.
Netmarble will occupy the 11th floor, leasing 14,000 square feet of office space for five years, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal, our sister publication. The company plans to move the U.S. division by July.
The Seoul-based company, which raised $2.3 billion last year in an initial public offering, develops and publishes mobile games for several L.A.-area companies, including Walt Disney Co. and its Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm subsidiaries.
“We want to be in the center of the action because Western expansion is a key driver of us expanding our business,” Simon Sim, chief of U.S. operations, told the Los Angeles Times. “It makes a lot more sense to be downtown than stay in Orange County.”
High-Powered Sales
Electric bicycles are the fastest-growing segment in the U.S. cycling market.
E-bike sales surpassed $77.1 million last year, up 91% over 2016, according to market tracker The NPD Group in Port Washington, N.Y.
Sales have grown more than eightfold since 2014.
Matt Powell, vice president and senior industry adviser of NPD Group’s sports division, credits the spike to emerging fashionable brands, boomers accounting for the majority of purchases because they’re seeking a new ride experience.
Mountain bike sales topped $577.5 million, up 3%, while road bike sales declined 12% to $412.8 million.
Bike sales, services and repairs generate about $5.9 billion in annual revenue, according to NPD, independent bicycle dealers accounting for about 52% of that.
The trends bode well for Fountain Valley-based Pedego Electric Bikes, the top e-bike retailer in the U.S. last year with sales of $20 million, up 35% over 2016.
The company, established in 2008 by Don DiCostanzo and Terry Sherry, added 24 stores last year and now operates 120 branded locations.
Its average buyer is 62 and has discretionary income. The company’s top-selling model, Interceptor, is a $3,000 cruiser. New models include Conveyor, a commuter bike, and Elevate, a full-suspension mountain bike that costs $5,495.
