The Real Reason Blizzard Won't Have BlizzCon In 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has had a massive effect on the gaming industry. Between games being pushed back and events being canceled or changed entirely, it's safe to say that the past year has looked very different for a lot of communities. Blizzard ultimately decided that BlizzCon won't be coming in 2021 for the same reasons.
In an update on May 26, Executive Director of BlizzCon Saralyn Smith broke the news that BlizzCon won't be coming back in 2021. According to Smith, "the ongoing complexities and uncertainties of the pandemic have impacted our ability to properly move forward," and the company is, "past the point where [Blizzard would] be able to develop the kind of event we'd want to create for [fans] in November."
Planning BlizzCon takes months, and the company just doesn't have the time to do it correctly. Even if pandemic regulations eased up or were gone by November, there just isn't enough time. Smith also made it a point to say that this decision was based on fans, too: "We know some of you might be wondering about your own plans to potentially cross the country — not to mention oceans ... so, today, we wanted to give you a heads-up that we've decided we will not be holding BlizzCon this year."
While the decision was made, in part, for fans, those said fans were not happy. Between accusing the company of having nothing to present in November to saying that Blizzard is too cheap, fans had a lot to say.
Fans aren't happy with Blizzard's decision
Blizzard's decision upset a lot of fans, and Twitter saw their wrath. Most users argued that the pandemic was slowing down and that places are opening up. However, BlizzCon takes place in California, and currently, California hasn't lifted many restrictions. While this could change by November, Blizzard doesn't have enough time to plan the event with the hopes that things will be back to normal.
BlizzCon isn't the only California based con that was canceled this year — Twitter user CosplayerGwyn mentioned that Anime Expo was also cancelled for 2021.
One thing to note is that Smith did say that there would be an online event in early 2022, just like Blizzard held in early 2021 because of BlizzCon being canceled in 2020. While one of the highlights from the show was the hilarious censoring of Metallica's performance on Twitch, fans on Twitter were excited to have something instead of nothing.
BlizzConline, we'll see you next year!