Early next year, Blizzard’s owners will not meet fans to reveal more details about the games and expansions that are going to the market. The fast-paced BlizzConline has been officially canceled, but the studio believes it will return stronger.
The big problems in Blizzard have not been resolved. The company has been facing the consequences of allegations of sexual harassment for several months , which later resulted in the departure of one of the studio heads , an official strike , as well as the testimony of Bobby Kotek. This type of publicity does not affect the mood very well to celebrate and present the results of your work at official events.
Blizzard has already canceled this year’s BlizzCon , but to wipe out tears, it announced that it would organize BlizzConline in early 2022, which was to be a digital version of the event in which we could participate a few months ago. Currently, however, we know that the advertised event will not take place.
A message has appeared on the studio’s website for all players. The representatives of the company emphasize that the decision was not the easiest one, but it is the most correct one. The studio plans to consider the form of the next meetings with the Blizzard community.
We’ve decided to take a step back and pause on planning the previously announced BlizzConline event scheduled for early next year. This was a tough decision for all of us to make, but it’s the right one.
The first BlizzCon took place 16 years ago, a lot has happened since then, so the studio is planning modifications. The main goal, however, is to offer a safe, inclusive and friendly event. Nevertheless, we should not be afraid of the lack of information regarding the next stages of work on Diablo 4 or Overwatch 2 – the company will continue to share news.
One more thing we wanted to make clear: even though we aren’t holding BlizzConline in February, we’ll still be making announcements and updates for our games. We’re proud of our teams and the progress they’ve made across our games. We have a lot of exciting upcoming news and releases to share with you. You’ll continue hearing about those through our franchise channels, with the talented people on the BlizzCon team playing a part in supporting these efforts.