No BlizzCon in 2021
Blizzard cancels annual in-person fan festival citing pandemic, will hold another online show and "smaller in-person gatherings" early next year
BlizzCon has been cancelled once more, as Blizzard today announced that it will once again forego the annual in-person fanfest due to the pandemic.
"Building an in-person BlizzCon is an epic and complex affair that takes many months of preparation -- not just for us, but also for the many talented production partners, esports pros, hosts, entertainers, artists, and other collaborators we team up with locally and globally to put all of the pieces together," BlizzCon executive producer Saralyn Smith said on the event's official site.
"The ongoing complexities and uncertainties of the pandemic have impacted our ability to properly move forward on many of these fronts, and ultimately we're now past the point where we'd be able to develop the kind of event we'd want to create for you in November."
This is the second straight BlizzCon to be cancelled because of the pandemic. Smith announced the cancellation of last year's event a year ago today.
Just as Blizzard replaced BlizzCon 2020 with a virtual BlizzConline this February, it appears to be planning something similar this time around.
"We're planning a global event for the early part of next year, combining an online show along the lines of our recent BlizzConline with smaller in-person gatherings, and we'll share more as our plans come together," Smith said.
Last year, Blizzard announced the first details of BlizzConline in September.