BlizzCon 2011 Tickets on Sale May 21 & 25

Blizzard has announced the ticket dates for their annual event, BlizzCon. The first batch will be available starting at 10 am PDT on Saturday May 21, and the second on Wednesday, May 25 at 7pm PDT. If you miss out, an exclusive pre-BlizzCon dinner to benefit Children’s Hospital of Orange County will have you covered with 200 extra tickets.

The pricing of general sale tickets has been bumped up to $175, and the BlizzCon Benefit Dinner’s tickets are priced at $500 with all of the proceeds going to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Despite the price hike, I wouldn’t bet against BlizzCon selling out as fast as usual.

“We love being able to meet directly with our players, and since BlizzCon is one of the rare opportunities we get to do that, we always pack as much information and entertainment as we can into the show,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard, in a press release.

“This year will be no different—whether you’re with us in Anaheim or joining from home, be prepared for two days of Blizzard gaming and good times with the most passionate community in the world.”

Expect panels, hands-on experience with current and upcoming Blizzard games, and tournaments featuring the best players of Blizzard’s titles at the Anaheim Convention Center on October 21 and 22. If you can’t attend, Blizzard is offering a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, which provides live HD coverage of the event streaming online and also on DIRECTV in the US for $39.99. That’s a 5 cent increase from last year, by the way.

Are you expecting anything in particular from BlizzCon this year? I’m going to go with a massive Starcraft 2 tournament or league with a ridiculous amount of prize money and something super cool regarding Diablo 3. Sound off in the comments below!