Blizzard’s BlizzCon is arguably one of the biggest gaming events of the year. However, in light of the pandemic, the gaming conference has evolved into BlizzConline for its past iteration into an online BlizzConline. In fact, earlier this year, the game developer announced a new approach for BlizzCon which would span both online and offline, in-person experiences. However, it looks like that may not be happening after all.
The company has taken online to announce to the community that the upcoming BlizzCon planned for February 2022 will not be happening. In their statement, the company states that, “we would also like to take the time to reimagine what a BlizzCon event of the future could look like”. That said, it was the same words used earlier this year in their announcement for the 2022 BlizzCon. The event is one of the company’s crowning achievements that have allowed fans of game franchises like Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft to rally and feel part of the Blizzard experience. The absence of the convention, in any form, could prove to be more a quandry for Blizzard.
However, Blizzard isn’t leaving fans without updates and announcements. In their update, the company states, “One more thing we wanted to make clear: even though we aren’t holding BlizzConline in February, we’ll still be making announcements and updates for our games. We’re proud of our teams and the progress they’ve made across our games. We have a lot of exciting upcoming news and releases to share with you.”. Fans will have lots to look forward to come February 2022 by the sounds of it.
The cancellation of Blizzard’s annual BlizzCon seems to be one of the latest casualties in their unfolding legal saga. Blizzard has recently come under fire for a myriad of reasons including employer misconduct and sexual harassment. BlizzCon was ground zero for some of the most egregious sexual harassment allegations thanks to the “Cosby Suite”. Since then the allegations and issues that have arisen have become a hot topic in the gaming industry which is currently undergoing a renaissance.
