Blizzard is apparently fed up with dealing with WoW account thefts. They are now offering a Keychain Token style device which generates a unique code to help prevent unauthorized access. The device generates a six-digit code which links to your account, and is needed to login. It then becomes invalid after a short time. Great idea! Click the link for the official site, click read more for the official info and image. Pretty cool, we say!

PRESS RELEASE

IRVINE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today introduced an optional extra layer of security for World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Designed to attach to a keychain, the lightweight and waterproof Blizzard® Authenticator is an electronic device that generates a six-digit security code at the press of a button. This code is unique, valid only once, and active for a limited time; it must be provided along with the account name and password when signing in to the World of Warcraft account linked to it.

This year's Blizzcon has been officially announced. The event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center on October 10 and 11. Click read more for the full info.

PRESS RELEASE

MARLOW, UK – 12th May, 2008 – Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans for its third BlizzCon™ gaming convention, to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on 10 and 11 October. BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment®’s Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® franchises. In response to the demand to accommodate more attendees, this year’s event has expanded from two convention halls to three.

John Smedley, president of SOE, revealed that the PS3 will someday soon have an MMO that will rival the popularity of the phenomenon called World of Warcraft. This statement comes after SOE's move into the SCE facilities during Sony's massive restructuring plan. A bold claim, for sure, but can Sony deliver?

Blizzard has revealed some details about the storyline for the upcoming WoW expansion, The Lich King. In the latest Blizzard Podcast, it is revealed that the storyline takes players back into Azeroth proper, the realm of Gnolls and Kobolds. Check the link for the full scoop.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, speaking at an investor meeting, has stated that MMOs could be "an insurmountable product category" for publishers at the moment, with the juggernaut World of Warcraft on the loose. This is something we here at GR have been touting for a while now. Kotick went further to claim that at least a 1 billion dollar investment would be required to even have a shot at taking on WoW, and even then it is no guarantee. The simple fact is that until World of Warcraft's day is done, there will be no other leader in the MMO world, and on top of that WoW has changed the MMO model forever.

"We don't think that even if we made the USD 500 million or billion-dollar investment to get a product out [to compete with WOW] that we would even be successful doing it," he said.

Blizzard has announced that it will put online a new set of WoW realms that will allow players to enter world-wide team-based tournaments. You can even win real cash prizes, up to $200,000 USD! Check it out.

Chinese online games copmany NetEase is rumored to be breaking into the market overseas with a new game - Starcraft Online. The game is rumored to have been developed by the WoW Blizzard team. Blizzard has not confirmed or denied this rumor at this point, although it has advertised for staff for a new MMO. Stay tuned, rumor mill for now.

Vivendi Games, Blizzard's publisher for World Of Warcraft, has shows a profit of over 1 billion for its Europe division. This is due in no small part to the ridiculous success of WoW, and it just keeps on growing!

Well, it is official folks, World of Warcrack has surpassed 10 million subscribers. This is a truly awesome feat, as the WoW subscriber base now represents about .2% of the world's population. We call that impressive.

From Blizzard:

It was one year ago, today, that the blood elves and draenei joined the armies of Azeroth, and the Dark Portal was opened to the beautiful and terrifying vistas of Outland. On January 16, 2007, The Burning Crusade was released and sold almost 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours of release, winning multiple awards from industry representatives. Since that time, World of Warcraft has reached the epic milestone of 9 million subscribers worldwide, and players have discovered the might of the Burning Legion, fought against the allies of Illidan in Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep, and even faced down the Betrayer himself in the Black Temple.