After being forced to adapt a digital format due to the Covid-19 health crisis, and despite high expectations of trying to recover part of the presence of its event, finally the latest statement published today on its website, announces that the next BlizzCon 2022 or BlizzConline will no longer take place.
Although the company declares that making this decision of «take a step back and pause your event planning»It has been difficult, but they say that the energy that would have been invested in creating the event will now be used to support their various teams and progress in the development of their games.
Thus, without making any direct reference to the sexual harassment scandal that has rocked the studio in recent months, although certainly under a decision clearly influenced by it, Blizzard notes that plans to take time to “reimagine” BlizzCon. And it is not surprising that Blizzard wants to rework the event, since the environment after this event was the site of the infamous “Cosby Suite” where Blizzard employees, including former World of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi, allegedly sexually harassed numerous women and peers.
“Whatever the event looks in the future, we must also make sure you feel as safe, welcoming and inclusive as possible”, Stated the company,“We are committed to ongoing communication with our players, and we see that BlizzCon will play an important role in that going forward. We are excited about what we will do with the event when we visit again in the future«.
Similarly, even if the BlizzConline is not held, taking into account that the new edition would not arrive until time after the first programming for February 2022, we will still continue to receive all the updates and news expected about its current and future games, presumably through one of the other major general events from the video game scene, or even through a specific advertisement for them. And it is that news about two of the company’s next big titles are still expected, Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2.
