BlizzCon 2021 was already unusual since it was exclusively an online event and held a few months later than normal. The next BlizzCon will be even more unusual because it won’t be happening at all since Blizzard Entertainment is canning the event entirely.
Blizzard announced this change of plans on its website. The company didn’t give a specific reason, but said that the monumental amount of energy needed to put on a show of this magnitude would be “best directed towards supporting [its] teams and progressing development of [its] games and experiences.” Blizzard said it wants to use the time to reimagine the convention as it has been going on for 16 years and wants it to be “as safe, welcoming, and inclusive as possible” in its new iteration.
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That promise is likely a vague gesture for one of the likeliest — although, unnamed —reasons for the cancelation. Aside from the pandemic-related problems, which Blizzard has brought up in the past about BlizzCon, Activision Blizzard has been going through a reckoning as multiple people within the company have been accused of wretched behavior in the past. This behavior infected the company’s culture and resulted in lawsuits, firings, resignations, and general unrest which have all further damaged the company’s reputation. Holding a convention during such times (which are still ongoing) would probably be quite sticky.
Blizzard will still be talking about its games like Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV, but will be doing so in other places. But instead of being grouped the updates together into one long weekend, the news will come out through the regular channels at their own times.
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The team announced in May 2021 that it had planned to hold another BlizzConline sort of event in early 2022. It was supposed to be like BlizzConline but with “smaller in-person gatherings” instead of a traditional convention.
