Ion Hazzikostas, the current game director for World of Warcraft , is set to give the opening “Storytime” keynote speech at PAX West 2018, which will take place in the Washington State Convention Center between August 31 and September 3.

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Though Hazzikostas joined Blizzard in 2008 to design raid encounters, balance classes and maintain the game's achievement system for Wrath of the Lich King, he officially became WoW's game director in 2016. This keynote will come after WoW's newest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, is released on August 14.“There really are two worlds - one before World of Warcraft, and one after,” said Jerry Holkins, co-founder of Penny Arcade and PAX. “I can't wait to hear Ion Hazzikostas share some stories from the early days of WoW all the way up to the release of Battle for Azeroth.”Other panels at PAX West 2018 will include talks with developers working on Devil May Cry 5, Anthem, Life is Strange and a whole lot more Battle for Azeroth is coming this week , and in anticipation of the major WoW expansion, check out five things to do before Battle for Azeroth launches , and read why a pre-expansion in-game event has fans divided

Colin Stevens is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter