It's April, so it must be time to announce BlizzCon dates for this year and advance ticket sales for the event. And speak of the devil.

Blizzard has announced that its annual convention will be Novemebr 4-5 this year at the usual stomping grounds of the Anaheim Convention Center in California. Tickets, which will run $199 plus taxes and fees, will go on sale in two batches--the first on April 20 starting at 7 p.m. PT, and the next set starting on April 23 at 10 a.m. PT. You can get more info from Blizzard's advance ticket sales page.

As it has done in year's past, the company will hold a pre-convention charity dinner to benefit the Children's Hopsital of Orange County. Tickets are $750 and go on sale on April 27 at 7 p.m. PT.

Everyone always wants to know what goodies they will get for attending, or purchasing the show's virtual ticket, which allows people who can't attend the show to watch it streamed online. Unfortunately Blizzard isn't divulging that just yet, so stay tuned.

The convention will have its usual showing of the best in eSports, but by the time the show happens this year, many of the franchises for Blizzard will have already been released. Overwatch is coming in May, the Warcraft movie should be out in June, and most of the mission packs for StarCraft 2 should be out. It is quite possible Legion will be out as well. 

Last year, Blizzard focused on the upcoming Legacy of the Void, the final installment of StarCraft 2, as well as giving more details on Legion, the new expansion for World of Warcraft. Overwatch, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm also got heavy play, with only the Diablo franchise lacking any real news. 

So it will be interesting to see what Blizzard has new up its sleeve to keep fans invested in its games. Maybe Warcraft 4? Please?