Blizzard opens writing competition

By Oli Welsh Published 6 July, 2010

Enter short story, win visit to HQ.

Blizzard is inviting short story submissions for its 2010 Global Writing Contest.

Stories should be 2500 to 7500 words long, written in English, and set in the Warcraft, StarCraft or Diablo universe. You have until 23rd August to submit your entries.

The grand prize winner will win a trip to the developer's headquarters in Irvine, southern California to meet the Blizzard writing staff, as well as a rare collectable (either a Diablo III diorama or a Warcraft Frostmourne replica sword).

Seven-runners up will receive complete sets of Diablo, Warcraft and StarCraft Archives - which collect the official novels set in each universe - signed by Blizzard lore guru Chris Metzen as well as the cover artists and writing staff.

You can read last year's winner at the Blizzard site for an idea of what the judges are looking for.

Submissions must be in .DOC format. Sending musty tomes is discouraged. "Tomes, no matter the quality or quantity of must they contain, will not be accepted as valid contest entries," warns the FAQ.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (11) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • X3Entente #1 2 years ago

    ok, ok, theres this amnesiac ghost operative, whos wakes up in really gross pool of zerg blood and notices an ancient protoss rune etched into their arm that seems to telepathically warn of a terrible coming apocalyse,.. ah fuck it, cant write for shit

  • Scopeh #2 2 years ago

    Dont do it! they will steal your life! and your wallet!

  • Riggers #3 2 years ago

    How about the uplifting story of the plucky tauren who overcame adversity and discrimination to become a rogue?

  • Nephirion #4 2 years ago

    Once upon a time there was an evil Knight he was jealous of his daddy and killed him with a lump hammer that he believed told him to do it. Many heroes tried to get the evil Knight but there gearscore was far too low and they didnt have the achievement. In the end the world was saved because an even more evil dragon came and destroyed the world .... now wheres my prize?

  • Nasty #5 2 years ago

    Some guy asked another guy to get him 10 Raptor Eyeballs. He accepted this quest and spent the next 90 minutes collecting the eyeballs, surprised and frustrated at how many raptors failed to have eyeballs. He returned to the guy and gave him the eyeballs and got some coinage and a new hat for his troubles. Still not satisfied, this guy then asked another another guy to get him another 10 Raptor eyeballs...


    giev Frostmourne plz

  • geeza2020 #6 2 years ago

    orcs and blokes fighting for a bit, then some demons come from the sky and start breaking all their shit up. The leader of the blokes is like "fuck this" and goes and joins up with some dead people. Orcs run off to the other side of the world and some shit with some demons goes down and they all lose the red mist from their eyes. Some pointy eared freaks get wiped out, but its ok some other purple pointy eared freaks are about to take their place. Then the pointy ears, the orcs and the blokes all have a big scrap under some kind of tree and the whole planet is saved.

    The world can have this one for free :D

  • nuanimal #7 2 years ago

    How about an Elf maiden who overcomes sexual abuse and harassment by every other living thing in the world, but then manages to get hold of the Ban Hammer after a magical quest. May be even throw in a disfigured orc companion who has carpel tunnel syndrome from days on end on a keyboard?

    Ok so it's a bit shit.

  • kangarootoo #8 2 years ago

    Anyone interested in writing as a future job (especially in games) should get off their butt and enter this. Winning any of the prizes this would be like a gold bar sat right in the middle of your CV shouting "pick me from the pile of hopefuls you can't be arsed to look at in detail".

  • hobbesthetiger #9 2 years ago

    Not my kind of thing (in terms of the games worlds it's set) but a decent idea, both for aspiring writers and for Blizzard themselves.

  • swisstony #10 2 years ago

    Lor'themar let the letter drop from his fingers and glanced at Halduron as he picked at the pink bone of a chicken leg, the remains of a meal that they had shared mostly in laughter and good conversation till the guard brought in the letter with a seal he couldn't ignore.
    "Aethas Sunreaver's making a visit?"
    Halduron paused, "Visiting? Not requesting a visit but visiting?"
    "Most eminent Regent Lord...blah blah...just so happen to be arriving in three days, and so on."
    "What will you tell him?"
    Lor'themar shook his head and sighed, "I still don't know."

    That retains almost all the meaning and cuts out about 3 paragraphs of overwrought bullshit in the first part of last year's winning entry. Dear God the rest of the entrants must have been excruciating.

  • levitate #11 2 years ago

    I'm writing a story I'm going to send in very soon. If I win I'll let you all know, watch this space.