Why Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Killed Off Blizzcon 2024

Blizzard has canceled its annual fan convention, BlizzCon, for 2024.

The company cited “careful consideration over the last year” as the reason behind this decision.

Instead of BlizzCon, Blizzard plans to host smaller events throughout the year and participate in other trade shows like Gamescom.

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Despite this year’s cancellation, Blizzard reassures fans that BlizzCon will return in the future: “While we're approaching this year differently and as we have explored different event formats in the past, rest assured that we are just as excited as ever to bring BlizzCon back in future years,” the video game developer added.

The cancellation comes amidst a significant year for Blizzard, marked by Microsoft Corp’s MSFT acquisition of the company for $68.7 billion, legal battles against the acquisition, and changes in the company’s leadership, including CEO Bobby Kotick‘s departure after over 30 years.

BlizzCon has a history of cancellations. The most recent event to get nixed occurred in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event returned in an online format in 2021, but was canceled in 2022 due to workplace harassment lawsuits.

An in-person event took place in 2023.

It’s worth noting that the cancellation of BlizzCon 2024 coincides with the demise of E3 and a struggling video game industry facing layoffs and financial challenges.

Microsoft’s recent layoffs of 1,900 employees across Activision Blizzard and Xbox further underscore the industry’s difficulties.

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Image credits: Randy Miramontez on Shutterstock.