Ion Hazzikostas, the game director of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft®, will deliver the opening “Storytime” keynote at PAX West 2018, taking place at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, WA between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3, 2018.
Known by the nickname “Watcher” among the WoW® community, Hazzikostas joined Blizzard in 2008, leaving behind a career in law to become a designer on Blizzard’s popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game. His first responsibilities included designing raid encounters, balancing classes, and maintaining the achievement system for the 2008 expansion Wrath of the Lich King®, and he ultimately leveled up to become game director in 2016. Hazzikostas is currently helming the development of the Battle for Azeroth™ expansion, which releases Aug. 14.
Tickets for PAX South 2019, taking place Jan. 18 – Jan 20, 2019 at Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, TX, will be available for sale later this week. Three-day badges will cost $85 and single day passes will be available for $42. Badges can be purchased here starting Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018.
Additional panels at PAX West 2018 include presentations from the development teams behind Capcom’s Devil May Cry 5, BioWare’s Anthem, Square Enix’s Life is Strange, and many more. The event will also feature a bounty of exhibitors on the show floor, from ranging from console manufactures and major publishers to indie studios showing off their latest upcoming titles.
“There really are two worlds – one before World of Warcraft, and one after,” said Jerry Holkins, co-founder, Penny Arcade and PAX. “I can’t wait to hear Ion Hazzikostas share some stories from the early days of WoW all the way up to the release of Battle for Azeroth.”
PAX West 2018 Monday badges are still available for $50 and can be purchased online.
Founded in 2004, PAX West connects leading game developers directly to gamers, providing a space where gaming culture is celebrated through panels, demos, concerts, tournaments and free play sessions. The PAX series of shows – now including West, East, South, Australia, and Unplugged – produced by ReedPOP in conjunction with Penny Arcade, comprise some of the world’s largest gaming festivals, with each event entertaining tens of thousands of guests.
