BlizzCon schedule hints at Diablo focus

Blizzard has published the schedule and panel descriptions for this year's BlizzCon fan convention, which takes place on 22nd and 23rd October in its usual venue of the Anaheim Convention Center south of Los Angeles.

Although the schedule never tells the full story – Blizzard usually keeps a surprise for its opening ceremony – it does suggest that Diablo III will get its turn in the limelight this year.

Blizzard's next major release (well, if you don't count the small matter of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm) enjoys the pride-of-place session at noon on the Friday, immediately after the opening ceremony, with a panel called "Diablo III: Gameplay".

Lead designer Jay Wilson told Eurogamer, in an interview published today, that "in terms of the amount of things that we're showing, this is our biggest BlizzCon to date. We've got a lot of stuff now. We're cooking a game now." Expect the fifth and final character class to be unveiled.

Fans may have hoped to hear the first details about the second StarCraft II instalment, Heart of the Swarm, but with Wings of Liberty still young and Diablo III at the front of the PR queue, that seems unlikely. There are plenty of StarCraft II sessions, however, and competitive SCII looks set to dominate BlizzCon tournaments.

With Catclysm just weeks from release and the beta exhaustively detailed, WOW activity will most likely be restricted to the first showing of the Cataclysm trailer from Blizzard's fêted cinematics team and a roadmap for updates to the expansion in Friday's Dungeons & Raids panel.

What about the revelation of Blizzard's mysterious fourth game and next MMO? Dream on... But check Eurogamer's live coverager from BlizzCon 2010, just in case.