At Blizzard, we love running contests! Contests give you a chance to be creative and win prizes, and they give us a chance to display the awesome results of your creativity. You can always find our current contests on the Blizzard Contest page.

We also run contests on Facebook and Twitter -- you can find links to our social media pages listed on the right side of our contact page.

Here are some of our current contests:

Holiday Dessert -- Ends December 20, 2011
Contest Type: Baking
Prize: Prize package

The ANZ Diablo III Beta-Key Twitter Contest -- Ends December 31, 2011
Contest Type: Writing
Note: Residents of Australia and New Zealand only; check Eligibility
Prize: Diablo III beta key

Student Art Contest -- Ends January 15, 2012
Contest Type: Environment Art
Note: United States and Canada College or University Students only; check Eligibility
Prize: Three month mentorship by World of Warcraft art team, Prize package

Core Hound Pup Adoption Campaign -- Ends January 26, 2012
Contest Type: World of Warcraft Screenshot
Prize: Apple iPad

To prepare for the holidays, Great-Father Winter has massively buffed your gift-giving abilities. For a limited time, we’re offering epic savings of up to 75% on select World of Warcraft products through the online Blizzard Store:

• WoW: Battle Chest for $5 (reg. $19.99)
• Cataclysm for $20 (reg. $39.99)
• Wrath of the Lich King for $10 (reg. $39.99)
• Celestial Steed for $10 (reg. $25)
• Pandaren Monk for $5 (reg. $10)

With these deals, there’s never been a better time to recruit a friend to World of Warcraft or hook up your guildmate with a new mount or pet. Click here to start shopping, but don’t delay; these offers end Monday, December 19, 2011.

For players throughout Brazil who have been waiting for the launch of World of Warcraft, today’s the day! The realms are live, a fully localized version of the game, including The Burning Crusade, is in stores now for a suggested price of BRL 29.90, and Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm are also available for BRL 99.90 each.

The Brazilian language pack is available for download for current players who’d like to switch over to it, and free realm transfers are available from certain realms to the new Brazilian realms.

Check out the official launch press release for full details.

Spike TV Recognizing Blizzard Founders With “Gamer God” Award

The Spike TV Videogame Awards are coming up, and Spike has just announced that they’ll bestow their second-ever Gamer God award upon Blizzard Entertainment’s three founders, Mike Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce. In addition, Diablo III’s full opening cinematic will make its world premiere during the show. Check out Spike TV’s official announcement for full details, and tune into the VGAs on December 10 at 8:00 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. Central.

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), the professional game-industry organization dedicated to advancing the artistic values of the interactive entertainment community, just announced that our very own Frank Pearce, Blizzard Entertainment cofounder and EVP of product development, has been appointed to its Board of Directors. Frank brings his own special brand of grumpy wisdom and blunt objectivity to the AIAS Board, and will represent the interests of the Horde and the Alliance equitably. See the AIAS’ official press release for more information. Congrats, Frank!

Patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight features something for everyone. From a new raid to unexplored dungeons to the latest story developments to shake the world of Azeroth, this content update introduces a new tier of armor sets, the legendary “Fangs of the Father” rogue quest line, Transmogrification for cosmetic armor and weapon customization, Void Storage as a handy long-term storage option, Raid Finder to make forming pick-up raids easier than ever, and much more.

Watch the trailer now, and also make sure to read the new Warcraft short story Charge of the Aspects.

Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) has a love/hate relationship with World of Warcraft in the latest WoW TV spot. Click here to watch it now.

Chuck Norris didn’t break a sweat filming the newest World of Warcraft television spot. Instead, he made the director cry and then cooled himself with the tears.

Watch the new WoW commercial now.

World of Warcraft turns seven on November 23, 2011! It’s been a truly incredible seven years, and we’d like to thank you all for joining us for yet another fantastic year. To celebrate, players who log into the game between November 20 and December 3 will earn a feat of strength added to their Achievements and a “Celebration Package” item. Using your item will get the celebrations rolling by shooting off fireworks*, applying a (visual only) tabard to your character, and granting a 7% bonus to experience and reputation gains while active.

We look forward to another year of adventures ahead and many more to come!

*Please observe all goblin and gnome fire hazard warnings and celebrate responsibly.