Blizzard has revealed that BlizzCon – its mostly-annual gaming convention that takes place in California and brings communities from the likes of World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Diablo, Heroes of the Storm and Starcraft together in one place to celebrate their passions – is not going ahead for 2024.
The company said that over the last year, and after BlizzCon 2023 saw the return of an in-person expo after the COVID-19 pandemic took events off the map for a couple of years, it considered its options and decided not to go ahead with BlizzCon this year, though no specific reason was given. Blizzard says that the event will return in future years, though.
After careful consideration over the last year, we at Blizzard have made the decision not to hold BlizzCon in 2024. We’re excited to bring BlizzCon back in future years, and we still have some exciting plans for events in 2024!
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— Blizzard Entertainment (@Blizzard_Ent) April 25, 2024
“After careful consideration over the last year, we at Blizzard have made the decision not to hold BlizzCon in 2024,” the blog post reads. “This decision was not made lightly as BlizzCon remains a very special event for all of us, and we know many of you look forward to it. While we’re approaching this year differently and as we have explored different event formats in the past, rest assured that we are just as excited as ever to bring BlizzCon back in future years.”
Blizzard says that while its big event won’t be going ahead, it hopes that numerous smaller appearances tied to new product launches, major trade shows like Gamescom and esports competitions will satiate their various communities.
“Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing more details about our launches coming later this year, including World of Warcraft: The War Within and Diablo IV’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred. To celebrate these upcoming releases and to bring our communities together in new and special ways, we will soon share some exciting plans for other industry trade shows and conventions like Gamescom. We can’t wait to tell you more about those plans soon. We’re also looking forward to the Overwatch Champions Series’ stops at both Dreamhack Dallas and Dreamhack Stockholm. And we’re thrilled to be planning multiple, global, in-person events to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Warcraft, which will be held in addition to the in-game celebrations across our Warcraft games throughout 2024. While these events are distinct from BlizzCon, we’re harnessing all of our creativity and imagination to ensure that they carry the same spirit of celebration and togetherness.”
“Our hope is that these experiences – alongside several live-streamed industry events where we’ll keep you up to date with what’s happening in our game universes – will capture the essence of what makes the Blizzard community so special.”
