BlizzCon won't happen in 2024
Blizzard say the timing "doesn't line up"
BlizzCon, Blizzard's annual get-together for fans of their games, was halted by the pandemic in 2020 and only returned as a physical event last year. One year later, it is cancelled again, Blizzard have announced.
"After careful consideration over the last year, we at Blizzard have made the decision not to hold BlizzCon in 2024. 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 wrote in the announcement.
They go on to say that they have "some exciting plans for other industry trade shows and conventions like Gamescom", at which they'll "celebrate" the upcoming launches of World of Warcraft: The War Within and Diablo IV's first expansion, Vessel Of Hatred. They're also 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."
BlizzCon happened as an exclusively online event in 2021 and 2022 before returning physically in 2023. This year's event would have been the first since Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In a statement shared with PC Gamer, Blizzard expanded on the decision to cancel the event by clarifying that, "This is a Blizzard decision," and not one dictated by their new parent company. "We have explored different event formats in the past and this isn't the first time we're skipping BlizzCon or trying something new. While we have great things to share in 2024, the timing just doesn’t line up for one single event at the end of the year."
It's safe to say that it's been a tough few years for events - hi, we're still owned by an events company - but it's also been a tough year for Blizzard more specifically. Back in January, the company announced they had cancelled an in-development survival game and were among the studios affected by Microsoft laying off 2000 employees across their games division.