BlizzCon, the annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment won’t be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California this year as a precautionary measure concerning the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, the event likely won’t be held this year at all, confirmed BlizzCon executive producer Saralyn Smith on the official BlizzCon website.
“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,” Smith said.
“We’re feeling deeply disappointed about this decision, and imagine many of you will feel the same,” Smith said. “I truly love BlizzCon, and I know that’s a sentiment shared by everyone at Blizzard. We will sorely miss connecting with so many of you at the convention and “recharging our geek batteries” this fall.”
Smith went on to explain that an event “which would channel the BlizzCon spirit” is in the planning stages for 2021.
“We’re talking about how we might be able to channel the BlizzCon spirit and connect with you in some way online, far less impacted by the state of health and safety protocols for mass in-person gatherings,” Smith said. “We’d want to do this as soon as we could, but given that this is new-ish territory and the different factors involved, it will most likely be sometime early next year. BlizzCon is also a stage for big esports events in Blizzard games each year, so we’re also looking into alternatives for supporting some of the high-level competition that would normally take place at the show.”
Blizzard properties which were already announced and presumably would have been revealed in further detail at BlizzCon 2020 include Diablo 4, Diablo: Immortal, Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
Are you disappointed that BlizzCon 2020 has been cancelled? Was there any other precautionary measure that could have been taken besides cancelling the event or was it the right call? Let us know in the comments.
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