Blizzard Entertainment is cancelling Blizzcon 2024. Instead of hosting its flagship conference, the developer plans to make major announcements at other industry trade shows and events. Blizzard highlighted Gamescom and the Overwatch Champions Series’ stops at both Dreamhack Dallas and Dreamhack Stockholm. Fans can expect to hear more about World of Warcraft: The War Within and Diablo IV’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, at future conferences and livestreamed events.
Notably, 2024 is the 30th anniversary of the Warcraft universe. While fans won’t be able to celebrate at Blizzcon, the developer is planning in-person and in-game events across its Warcraft portfolio throughout 2024.
Blizzard likely canceled this year’s event after a disappointing Blizzcon 2023. Last year was the first in-person Blizzcon since 2019 due to the pandemic. Unlike previous iterations, it’s unclear if Blizzcon 2023 sold out its tickets. While there were a number of exciting announcements, the gap between events and lost goodwill from fans likely impacted attendance. Additionally, the price increase from $230 in 2019 to $300 in 2023 may have played a role.
While Blizzard celebrated Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition at last year’s Blizzcon, the merger might have also impacted the decision to cancel. Microsoft is likely using the pause to evaluate the company’s events strategy. Microsoft already laid off most of Activision Blizzard’s esports roles earlier this year.
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This move will disappoint Blizzard fans, but the company still has plans to host Blizzcon in the future.