Blizzard Entertainment knew that demand would be great for this year's BlizzCon, the developer's annual meet and greet in Anaheim, CA. As such, the developer expanded its presence at the Anaheim Convention Center from two halls to three. However, even that wasn't enough to satiate the demand of its nearly 11-million-strong fan base, and Blizzard said that tickets for the event had sold out within 24 hours of going on sale earlier this week, Web site snafus and all.

　　However, for those who were unable to wrest a pass for this year's BlizzCon from the overwhelmed ticket servers, hope has not yet faded. In a post to the developer's site today, Blizzard president Michael Morhaime apologized for the restricted guest list, and said that the company has managed to secure an additional 3,000 slots that will be sold by way of a lottery system.

　　"On behalf of everyone at Blizzard, I want to apologize for the challenges and frustrations you experienced while trying to purchase BlizzCon tickets on Monday and Tuesday," lamented Morhaime. "Due to these circumstances, we've reevaluated our convention hall space and come up with some solutions that will allow us to offer 3,000 more tickets for sale."

　　Morhaime noted that the lottery will be available only to those with an active Blizzard account as of 9:00 pm PDT on August 12, and promised that more details will be provided "once our plans are finalized." For those unable to secure tickets or unwilling to pony up the $100 entrance fee, DirectTV will offer a $39.95 package that will broadcast live from this year's BlizzCon, which runs from October 10 to 11.