Will we be losing out on another year of BlizzCon or will this just be a postponed matter?
So it’s official, the virtual gaming convention of BlizzCon (or as they’ve appropriately named it, BlizzConline) 2022 has been canceled. It was previously announced to be held in February 2022 but multiple varying factors have driven Blizzard to put the event on hold, despite them only really mentioning it being due to needing every one of their staff to be a part of it and wanting to “reimagine the future of BlizzCon”, I think that we all know that there’s a bit more to it.
What Is BlizzCon?
For any of you who aren’t entirely on the same page at this point, BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention that is held by gaming mammoth, Blizzard Entertainment.
The convention includes some of their biggest franchises such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo, Starcraft, Overwatch, and Heroes of the Storm.
If you go back to 2005, sixteen whole years ago, on the 28th of October, you will be thrown straight into the middle of the very first BlizzCon that was held at the Anaheim Convention Center. The convention also features various game-related announcements, previews, and teasers of other upcoming Blizzard content, costume contests, Q&A panels, and a bunch more. Artists such as Linkin Park, Metallica, The Offspring, Ozzy Osbourne, and a couple of others have also been a part of the closing night.
The average cost of a ticket to physically attend BlizzCon also includes a goody bag filled with things like in-game prizes, beta keys for upcoming Blizzard games, and exclusive Blizzard appurtenances; there is even a BlizzCon Benefit Dinner.
Over the years BlizzCon has become progressively larger and to just shut something like this down would have more of an impact than many realize, so in these tough times such as during the Covid19 pandemic Blizzard has switched over to hosting a full-blown virtual gaming convention, notably dubbed as BlizzConline for 2021 (the annual event was not carried out in 2020 due to the initial viral outbreak of the Covid19).
BlizzConline 2022
The official announcement was noted on the Blizzard website where the company posted a letter out to their community, which read as follows:
“To the Blizzard community,
We’ve decided to take a step back and pause on planning the previously announced BlizzConline event scheduled for early next year. This was a tough decision for all of us to make, but it’s the right one.
Any BlizzCon event takes every single one of us to make happen, an entire-company effort, fueled by our desire to share what we create with the community we care about so much. At this time, we feel the energy it would take to put on a show like this is best directed towards supporting our teams and progressing the development of our games and experiences.
Additionally, we would also like to take the time to reimagine what a BlizzCon event of the future could look like. The first BlizzCon was held 16 years ago, and so much has changed in the time since—most notably, the multiple ways in which players and communities can come together and feel like they are a part of something bigger. Whatever the event looks like in the future, we also need to ensure that it feels as safe, welcoming, and inclusive as possible. We’re committed to continual communication with our players, and we see BlizzCon playing a big role in that going forward. We’re excited about what we’ll do with the event when we revisit it in the future.
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. You’ll continue hearing about those through our franchise channels, with the talented people on the BlizzCon team playing a part in supporting these efforts.
We’ll miss seeing you, but don’t worry. We’ll be back together soon.”
Basically, what they want, or are saying, is that they want to put whatever resources they have into supporting the various development teams while they work on current and upcoming games and improvements.
We can, however, easily deduce that the underlying reason for this cancellation is due to the ongoing lawsuit filed against Activision Blizzard based on the allegations of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and the “frat-boy culture”.
During this lawsuit period, Blizzard has had a large number of staff walk-outs, including numerous big names such as former Blizzard president J.Allen Brack, Luis Barriga, Jesse McCree, and Jonathan LeCraft.
On the upside, until the 5th of November Blizzard is allowing battletag changes free of charge as opposed to the usual $10 (R150), in accordance with the name change from Jesse McCree to Cole Cassidy.
However, it’s not all bad…seemingly. The developer states in the letter to their community that they also want to “take the time to reimagine what a BlizzCon event of the future could look like.”