BlizzCon, the yearly celebration and convention of all things Blizzard, has been cancelled for 2020 due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
There may be an online something that will be similar to BlizzCon and take place early next year according to the statement. Blizzard will announce their plans once all is figured out.
Blizzard's Executive Producer of BlizzCon, Saralyn Smith, has the following to say.
Quote From Saralyn Smith Hello Blizzard community,
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.
We’re feeling deeply disappointed about this decision, and imagine many of you will feel the same. 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.
But we will meet again!
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. 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.
We’ll tell you more about our plans as they develop—but in the meantime, we hope to see you exploring the Shadowlands, hanging out in the Tavern, pushing the payload (do it!), and wherever else in the Blizzard universes you may roam.
Stay safe and stay well,
Saralyn Smith
Whirlwind Barbarian, Executive Producer of BlizzCon
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Comments
Im always looking forward to SC2 finals all year :( But i understand the decision and support it. Stay safe ppl!
Considering that last Blizzcons had disappointing announcements, this year's was supposed to be the one that shined with the good ones.
Hope they make separate Online Blizzcon or something.
No Blizzcon? Fine for me. But no Blizzcon Bingo? That is too much..
EDIT: typos
It's the right decision to cancel the event.
I can only hope they do a good job with the "online version" of it, because otherwise it will just show how greedy they have become and they will lose yet another chunk of their fans just to gain the revenue from all the virtual tickets we will buy.
Blizz has made the right decision to cancel blizzcon for this year. But honestly, even if the COVID was not a thing, they should probably take a pause for a year anyway, considering how it went for the previous blizzcons.
Having made announcements of new games previously, but not release dates, I cant help but feel if this year's blizzcon went ahead it would be to hype up more diablo 4 and overwatch 2, but tacitly mention no release date again. If Im not mistaken, the much hated diablo immortal isn't even out yet, so what exactly is there to show that we aren't already waiting to be released?
I hear diablo 2 remastered being talked about, but judging by how starcraft and warcraft remastered got out, I'd rather see the thing itself than yet another hyped up illustration of how it could be.
In terms of a News, it ain't much, but it is honest ^^
And nothing of value has been lost.
Honestly, if the online "something" is more accessible than actually going to Blizzcon, they may end up making more money... which as a business is what they are about...
Oh no, they cancelled another annual AAA vanity fair. Whatever are we going to do? Read the synopsis of game announcements without the PR bullshit it comes wrapped in is what we're going to do. We don't need Blizzcon any more than we need E3 or Pax. All we need is for developers to just present their games honestly without all the (false) advertising crap. Don't need to wait in lines for that.
I'm with you for the most part. I understand that it's a good occasion for people to meet up with their online friends IRL and get some cool exclusive stuff, and there's nothing wrong with that if that's what they want to do. In terms of announcements, though, I agree that you can simply read the announcements and get the same effect.
Sad news but it's the right move, safety first. Also I was expecting it after Dreamhack cancelations.
I think Gamescom 2020 is the only large video game convention left standing.
Even that is a Digital only event this year.
Ca has a .04% deathrate for covid. Seams like overkill, but whatever as long as they still have the expansion announcements that is the main reason blizzcon is exciting.
.04%? Do you mean, like, .04% of the total population of the state? California has a low death count so far because they did a good job of KEEPING people from getting COVID.
Last I heard, New York City had lost more than .25% of their population to this. And since most of the city still hasn’t gotten sick, the death toll is somewhat higher than that.
Besides, the focus on death rates is misleading. The thing that scares ME is all the survivors who are now injured for life. This causes strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, reduced lung function, and who knows what else.
I really hope things can get back to normal soon. Most places have stayed steady since starting to reopen cautiously. But large public gatherings are going to be the very last thing to come back. I’ll be really happy if I can visit my friends again and run down to the local store without worrying. I can wait for a vaccine before I go to another convention.
People aren't worried about Coronavirus because they might die, but because it spreads so fast and unpredictably. It isn't just about how bad catching it is, it is also about how likely you are to catch it and then spread it to who knows how many people.
Just because something is unlikely to fatal doesn't mean that it's sensible to just stop all safety precautions to avoid getting it. Even if people end up surviving Covid, they will still have gotten sick from it in the first place and possibly spread it around.
Who said stop all safety precautions? Big ASSumption there. You can have measures such as masks and social distancing. It's just as much danger going to a grocery store. Deaths matter it's sad when people die. I can see arguments for both sides. Yet, the fact is steeper cuts will need to be made the longer we keep the sip. In California the governor has proposed an across the board 10% cut for every govt worker. People are barely making it now with 10% cuts many teachers will lose there houses, many more homeless will be created. Too much politization is happening. People's economic survival is not a right or left issue. Btw I'm a very progressive Bernie Sanders supporter not some right winger. The media is trying to portray opening up as crazy right wing ideas. I go by the evidence,i there has not been spikes in places that open . Evidence is important. Many of you do not know how to argue so instead you huff and puff and resort to name calling. I'm glad few of you saw through that bs.
So stop living life for the .04% chance you could die from something, makesmakes sense. Nevermind 35% show no symptoms when they catch it. Keeping everything shutdown kills people too. So many suicides and drug OD have occurred too thanks to the SIP. People need jobs. Think about all those waiters and waitresses losing money because of closedown conventions. sorry but the govt cannot afford to keep giving people paychecks. We were lied to, they said there was going to be a a deathrate of 3-5 percent. That never materialized.
Death rates don't reflect the full extent of the problem. For every person that dies from the disease, there are x more who don't but for medical intervention. Medical intervention which costs money AND uses up limited medical resources and manpower. Resources which are needed by people seeking treatment for other illnesses. Manpower which can also fall ill and further reduce capacity. The idea isn't to eradicate the virus - it is to reduce the rate of infection so that the healthcare system isn't completely overwhelmed. I am grateful I live in a country where the government and the general populace understand that.
You are incredibly ignorant and honestly, if this is your thought process, please don't come back. I don't care how bad of an outcome that may be for the website, this simply isn't the type of community we're building.
These types of words and when they get spread by morons is the reason why people are out visiting beaches and having house parties. They take uneducated responses as facts and then end up doing damage.
Yes, shit sucks for a lot of people and some need more help than others to get through it. Stay in touch with your friends and family to make sure people are doing alright. There's plenty of online resources for people that need mental help, they're a Google search away.
Stop. Spreading. Retardation.
Don't reproduce.