Doors Close For 2020’s Blizzcon, Organizers Looking To Possible Online Feature

It should be no surprise how impactful the COVID-19 pandemic has left on the global market as majority of store have closed and the extensive precautions taken into place for the safety of the general public. With that, we have also seen an exodus of events that were initially slated for later in 2020, but due to the circumstance have been shelved unfortunately. The latest comes from Blizzard Entertainment as its annual convention has shut down operations.

In a blog post, the organizers for the show tell that the possibility for the event to presume in the latter of this year was initially there, but things have changed drastically since then and resulted with this year’s show to be held off. Many expected that November might be a safe guess to hold the show since summer events will not be occurring, but now organizers are pulling back even later into 2020 now.

Although the show will not be a physical, in-person show, the orchestrators for Blizzcon tells that there might be an online alternative to replace the cancelled event. But as of writing, there is no deciding verdict for a virtual Blizzcon.

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.

Saralyn Smith, Blizzcon Executive Producer

Last year’s Blizzcon surmounted to be on of the most exhilarating times for gaming last year. At the time, Blizzard unveiled that Overwatch 2 is on the way and shed some details on the project. First being that the title will offer its own story campaign that many have been eager to make its way for the series. Second is that current Overwatch owners can still participate in online matches with users who decide to get the sequel.

Elsewhere, we have seen late summer events be shelved which foreshadowed the closing for 2020’s Blizzcon. That being the rescheduled Summer Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The show just last month was revealed to be helming its operations online despite a very isolated replanning for August. You can read the full report by heading here.

Were you planning on attending this year’s Blizzcon?

Source: Blizzard Entertainment