Blizzard have announced that the grand finale of the Battle.net StarCraft 2 World Championship will take place in China on Novemeber 17-18. Shanghai will host the event, which will also feature the finals of the global World of Warcraft Arena competition and give attendees the chance to sit down for some "hands-on play time with some of the latest Blizzard games."
Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime says that Blizzard are "looking forward to seeing the best players in the World Championship Series face each other at the Battle.net World Championship in Shanghai this November," he adds that “the level of StarCraft II and World of Warcraft Arena competition we've already seen around the world has been amazing, so we're anticipating a truly epic finale."
The event is being organised through NetEase , which publishes StarCraft 2 and World of Warcraft in China. CEO William Ding is unsurprisingly also quite keen about the whole thing: “We're excited to partner with Blizzard to co-host a world-class eSports event here in China," he says. “There are millions of eSports enthusiasts in China and we're looking forward to presenting them with the opportunity to come together, have fun, and celebrate their passion for professional gaming.”
For more on the competition, check out the World Championship page on Battle.net for an overview of how each region breaks down ahead of the finals. There's already a big e-sports audience in China, but there's potentially a much, much bigger one to be won with centrepiece events like the Battle.net World Championships.
