Blizzard has announced that it won’t hold BlizzCon this year, their annual fan convention. “After careful consideration over the last year, we at Blizzard have made the decision not to hold BlizzCon in 2024,” Blizzard stated on its website.
Instead of BlizzCon, Blizzard plans to host other smaller events throughout the year and participate in trade shows like Gamescom. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of World of Warcraft.
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!
Read more: https://t.co/Ub2rdKdCWs
— Blizzard Entertainment (@Blizzard_Ent) April 25, 2024
Blizzard intends to organize “multiple, global, in-person events” to celebrate this milestone. They will also share updates about WoW’s 10th expansion, The War Within, and Diablo IV‘s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred.
Despite canceling this year’s event, Blizzard assured fans that BlizzCon will return in the future: “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.”
Last year was busy for Blizzard, which finalized its acquisition by Microsoft for $68.7 billion, faced legal challenges related to the acquisition in the US and UK, and reorganized its leadership with CEO Bobby Kotick stepping down after more than 30 years.
BlizzCon has faced cancellations before. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to BlizzCon’s cancellation, returning later in an online format. Then in 2022, BlizzCon was canceled again amidst workplace harassment lawsuits. The event resumed in 2023.
The cancellation of BlizzCon 2024 follows the end of another major video game event, E3, last year. The video game industry is also grappling with unprecedented layoffs and financial challenges. Earlier this year, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees across Activision Blizzard and Xbox, marking one of the largest video game industry layoffs in recent years.