While not unexpected, today Blizzard officially made the call to cancel Blizzcon 2020. The yearly event, usually held in early November, shows how far cancellations are being taken in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tuesday press release stated that the event was cancelled after a number of discussions at Blizzard over the best course of action.
Several weeks ago, I shared an update about our uncertainty around holding BlizzCon this year. Since then, a lot has changed . . . and a lot also hasn’t changed. During this time, we’ve had many discussions about what holding a convention could look like in light of all the health and safety considerations we’d want to make. We’ve also talked about different paths we could take, and how each one could be complicated by fluctuations in national and local health guidelines in the months ahead. Ultimately, after considering our options, we’ve come to the very difficult decision to not have BlizzCon this year.
Blizzard
The release went on to state that the company is considering an online-only event, potentially to be held sometime early next year. While the move online is an all too familiar one for events this year, the decision to have it early next year is somewhat interesting.
Additionally, plans are being put in motion for the multitude of eSports events that are traditionally held during Blizzcon. However, the release did not detail specifics to those plans at this time.
Stay tuned for further updates as they are released.
