What you need to know
- Blizzard today announced it's not holding BlizzCon in 2021.
- The company says the pandemic and the restrictions on gatherings have made holding the event too difficult and dangerous.
- Instead of BlizzCon, the company will be holding a digital event sometime next year with smaller in-person gatherings.
Blizzard today revealed that it's not holding BlizzCon in 2021, saying it's too difficult and potentially dangerous with the pandemic still not under control. However, to make up for this, it's going to hold a digital show with smaller in-person events in early 2022.
Blizzard announced the show's cancellation on Twitter. The primary reason, according to the company, is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on in-person gatherings, with Blizzard being uncertain that said restrictions will be lifted in time to safely hold an event in November.
Blizzard's press release reads: "Building an in-person BlizzCon is an epic and complex affair that takes many months of preparation—not just for us, but also for the many talented production partners, esports pros, hosts, entertainers, artists, and other collaborators we team up with locally and globally to put all of the pieces together. The ongoing complexities and uncertainties of the pandemic have impacted our ability to properly move forward on many of these fronts, and ultimately we're now past the point where we'd be able to develop the kind of event we'd want to create for you in November."
As for what it's doing to fill the space left by BlizzCon's absence, Blizzard reveals it's going to be holding another event in 2022: "So in the meantime, we're planning a global event for the early part of next year, combining an online show along the lines of our recent BlizzConline with smaller in-person gatherings, and we'll share more as our plans come together."
While we'll miss the event, this might be a good thing for Blizzard. The rumor is that Overwatch 2 isn't going to come out until 2022, and we also know Diablo 4 isn't going to be out in 2021. With its two big releases coming out next year, it makes sense why Blizzard would want to put off its event for a few months.
