Speaking at GDC Austin earlier today, Blizzard's Frank Pearce has revealed that despite charging $125 a head to get into Blizzcon, the annual event still ends up a net loss for the company.
"BlizzCon is operated at a substantial loss for the company," he said. "It's a huge marketing opportunity, so that's the benefit we get out of that. But in terms of any kind of financial gain, it actually is a loss for us."
To give you an idea, then, of how much holding the show costs, consider that 20,000 people bought tickets this year. At $125 a ticket, that's $2.5 million. So for the company to make a "substantial loss" on the show, it must cost a lot.
Then again, when you're Blizzard and you get all that WoW subscription money, you can afford to throw lavish parties for your fans every year.