BlizzCon 2022 is Now “On Pause”

I present to you a massive understatement: Activision-Blizzard is most assuredly not having a good time of things right now. If you’re somehow unaware of everything that’s happened (and is still in the process of happening) at their corporate headquarters over the past few months, it might interest you to know that Keiran has been dutifully monitoring and covering all the various goings-on to the best of his ability. I have neither the time nor the wherewithal to keep track of it all, so I commend Keiran for putting in the effort to do so.

Here is Keiran’s most recent news article on the topic, which should at least bring you most of the way up to speed. Of course, you’re free to read his other pieces about what I’ve taken to calling “the Acti-Blizz avalanche,” if you want to go down the proverbial rabbit hole. However, what I’m here to report upon today doesn’t strictly involve the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, though I’m fairly certain it is at least tangentially related to that whole kerfuffle.

You see, longtime readers of ours may recall an article of mine from back in late May of this year. In that piece, I reported on Blizzard’s announcement that they had scrapped plans for an in-person BlizzCon event around this point in the year to follow this past February’s “BlizzConline” extravaganza.

Saralyn Smith, Blizzard’s Executive Producer of BlizzCon, was quoted at the time as saying, “[W]e’re planning a global event for the early part of [2022], combining an online show along the lines of our recent BlizzConline with smaller in-person gatherings[.]” Well, according to a news post on the official Blizzard Entertainment website that was published the morning of October 26th, 2021, the plans for that show early next year are now officially “on pause.” Blizzard stated that this move “was a tough decision for all of us to make, but it’s the right one.”

Blizzard went on to explain that, “[a]t this time, we feel the energy it would take to put on a show like this is best directed towards supporting our teams and progressing development of our games and experiences.” My gut tells me that bit about “supporting our teams” could be a subtle reference to the situation with California’s DFEH and everything that has arisen around that, but I readily admit that’s entirely speculation on my part. However, that’s not the portion of this news post that I personally found the most intriguing.

That distinction would have to go to Blizzard’s statements about wanting to, “re[-]imagine what a BlizzCon event of the future could look like.” Regardless of what form such events may take, Blizzard said, “we also need to ensure that it feels as safe, welcoming, and inclusive as possible.” I have a feeling this excerpt is in reference to both the COVID-19 pandemic and all the various things that are happening as a result of that fateful lawsuit that was made public this past July. Again, though, that’s merely what I personally suspect.

So, to recap, Blizzard has put any and all plans for any sort of BlizzCon-like event on ice for the foreseeable future. For what it’s worth, they closed out the news piece by assuring their player bases that, “even though we aren’t holding BlizzConline in February, we’ll still be making announcements and updates for our games.” I guess all we can say at this point is that we’ll have to wait and see what unfolds from this point forward.