One yr after it got here again, Blizzcon, Blizzard’s once-annual devoted occasion, isn’t returning for 2024. Whereas the Overwatch and Warcraft developer plans to indicate off extra of its video games at completely different occasions all year long, Blizzcon has been a middle level for the studio’s neighborhood because it started in 2005. Blizzcon has taken a number of years off right here and there (together with a three-year stretch from 2020 to 2022), however the 2024 cancelation comes at such a troubling time for the corporate that it does benefit analyzing. It may be learn as a reasonably regular prevalence contemplating what Blizzard’s deliberate launch schedule appears to be like like, however given the outcomes of the corporate’s acquisition by Microsoft, some followers are understandably involved.
Possibly we don’t want a Blizzcon in 2024
Blizzcon has been a gathering floor for Blizzard followers yearly for many of the final a number of Octobers or Novembers, however the firm is altering up its strategy this yr with “a number of, international, in-person occasions” to rejoice the thirtieth anniversary of Warcraft. This covers one of many firm’s pillar franchises in a giant yr, as that is an enlargement yr for World of Warcraft. The Struggle Inside enlargement is about to launch someday in 2024, with some speculating it’s going to launch round August. Diablo IV, in the meantime, additionally has an enlargement arriving this yr, with Vessel of Hatred set for someday in “late 2024.” That might imply plenty of issues, however on condition that it’s not “vacation 2024,” it might actually be out earlier than a 2024 Blizzcon would have taken place. That leaves Overwatch 2, which is within the weirdest spot of all Blizzard’s video games proper now. Whereas it’s nonetheless rolling out heroes, modes, and patches at an everyday cadence, there are studies that Blizzard has canceled the sport’s deliberate story marketing campaign. The corporate hasn’t formally acknowledged as a lot, however there’s presumably dangerous information ready within the wings. With out that a part of the sport to tout, Blizzard has already talked about most of what’s coming for Overwatch 2 this yr at Blizzcon 2023.
If Blizzard needs to offer World of Warcraft and Diablo IV room to breathe after two main expansions, Hearthstone and Overwatch 2 can’t carry a present by themselves, particularly with how Blizzard has gutted the latter. So if most of what Blizzard was engaged on eventually Blizzcon goes to be out by the point Blizzcon 2024 would have occurred, possibly it’s not the time to have a giant blow-out present and make large guarantees about stuff that’s not going to be out any time quickly?
A Blizzcon cancelation remains to be extra dangerous information
That’s the charitable learn on a Blizzcon no-show in 2024. However even when all of these issues coalesced to make the occasion pointless from a advertising perspective, there are plenty of different circumstances surrounding Blizzard that make the choice price elevating an eyebrow at. That is the primary yr that Blizzcon would have occurred because the firm was acquired by Microsoft. Whereas the acquisition has solely been in place for a number of months, Microsoft got here in and laid off swaths of Blizzard’s workforce, together with a lot of the narrative and occasions employees on the Overwatch crew. If the Xbox firm is coming in seeking to reduce prices, there’s a respectable concern about whether or not Blizzcon goes to come back again even when the corporate’s pipeline is primed for a giant showcase.
Activision Blizzard as an organization has been in determined want of a clear home following controversies surrounding its office tradition and a harassment lawsuit. However the optics of shedding employees, reportedly canceling the key pillar of a recreation that followers have been excited for, and now canceling a giant fan occasion, all within the span of 1 quarter instantly following the acquisition, aren’t fairly for Blizzard or Xbox. It’s bizarre being a fan of Blizzard’s work when the corporate is so megalithic that it’s by no means with out controversy. Even the slightest shift in its enterprise plans has ripple results that have an effect on a number of communities and by no means really feel like they’re remoted incidents.
Blizzcon skipping 2024 might simply be nothing, and possibly it’s going to come again in 2025, although the announcement doesn’t decide to even that, as an alternative saying it hopes to convey it again in “future years.” However it’s the most recent in a string of dangerous information from an organization that has been letting individuals down whereas coping with a neverending inner struggle to do proper by its employees and its followers. I’ve been watching this firm flounder for therefore lengthy that even one thing as cheap as taking a yr off from a fan occasion will be seen as a foul omen. I’ve a charitable learn, however after watching Activision Blizzard tear down its employees and intestine its video games, it’s getting more durable to learn something it does in good religion. After all of the strife and damaged guarantees, I hope Blizzcon can reemerge in a yr or two as a beacon for a way far the corporate has come, fairly than as a soulless money seize banking on years of squandered goodwill. That’s, if it comes again in any respect.
