World of Warcraft®

gamescom has opened its doors to the public, and Blizzard Entertainment is right in the middle of all the action!

Today was the first fully public day of the event, and excitement is already mounting at the Blizzard booth. The highlight of the day was definitely the world premiere of the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria opening cinematic. The enthusiastic crowd was entertained by an exciting drum performance from MANAO – Drums of China, and treated to the unveiling of the latest creation from Blizzard’s cinematics team in both English and German.

But that wasn’t all. In our first Mists of Pandaria Leveling Contest, Justin SCHILLING was the fastest to race through the pandaren starting zone and make it to level five, winning a Sindragosa and the Lich King set from Mega Bloks! It’s not too late to try your luck in tomorrow’s leveling contest.

We also saw a showcase of some amazing fan art, and a live drawing session from Blizzard artist Grace Liu. She stunned the crowd as she created an incredibly detailed drawing of a witch doctor.

Grace was on hand with fellow Blizzard developers John Lagrave, Ion Hazzikostas, David Kim, and Kaeo Milker to sign autographs at the Blizzard booth. But if you missed them, don’t worry – we’ll have more Developer Signing Sessions tomorrow and Saturday!

The crowd was also wowed by two intense StarCraft II show matches. MC came out on top after an intense match with Puma. Supernova prevailed over Grubby. You can check out more pro gamers battling it out during show matches every day of gamescom!

There’s a lot more going on at the Blizzard booth this week, so be sure to stop by. Want some hands-on play time with the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta, the latest StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm multiplayer, and Diablo III? Don’t miss your chance to get in on the action – visit us in Halle 6.1 (B21) at the Koelnmesse in Cologne!

It’s not too late to have some fun and win some fantastic prizes from our partners. Come take part in the Blizzard Costume Contest on Saturday, or the World of Warcraft Dance Contest on Sunday. You can also try your luck during our quizzes several times each day.

Be sure to check out our photo gallery for updated pictures from the Blizzard booth, and visit our activities page for a full schedule of what’s to come.

We hope to see you here at gamescom 2012!