IGN: Blizzard Cancels BlizzCon 2024, Promises Return in Future Years

[SilentEagle]

I guess they didn't have enough content to show after cancellation of survival game. 2022 Xbox showcase had massive Blizzard presence. Hearthstone, WoW, Overwatch updates and Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred can be shown in this years showcase at will take at most 15-20 minutes.

 

[canderous]

I'm glad we got that cool WoW presentation from last year, that was pretty epic with all the classic announcements and the Worldsoul Saga stuff. Probably the best WoW presentation/announcement at a BlizzCon. But this year? Yeah not much to announce really.

That doesn't make any sense. They're releasing a WoW expansion in the fall and then another one a year later. It's also the 20th anniversary of WoW.

It feels like Microsoft is gonna ruin that company.

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TWW will be out before regular BlizzCon time, and Midnight will not be ready to show. They said it would be faster, but that's probably more like 18ish months. First half of 2026 probably? So if there's a BlizzCon 2025 that'll be a place to show it. Vessel of Hatred will probably be out by BlizzCon 2024 time as well.

BlizzCon loses a lot of money and probably more than usual last year due to not selling out (partly because of ticket prices, partly because the average person cannot afford to travel to a video game convention in current year). Plus everything in general being more expensive compared to the last in-person one from 2019. I bet they'd have an even tougher time selling tickets this year when prices would probably go up again and people would know nothing big was happening.

If you got some big stuff to announce, yeah the marketing gains can be worth it. But this year they'd just be announcing like the next seasons for each game, a new OW hero or something. Personally I'm more interested in these Warcraft-specific events.

 

[davepoobond]

didnt they already sell stuff, or did they just announce prices?


i feel like they said recently they would do it every year regardless. there's a big social aspect to it all that is almost more important than the games. They have the tournaments and stuff.

even when they have stuff to announce, they need more to do there, though. it would be nice if they had some Activision games there or something that would have cross-appeal.


its mostly just too expensive for what is there.

 

[SilentEagle]

I'm glad we got that cool WoW presentation from last year, that was pretty epic with all the classic announcements and the Worldsoul Saga stuff. Probably the best WoW presentation/announcement at a BlizzCon. But this year? Yeah not much to announce really.

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As long as Metzen is there, Warcraft presentations will always be epic. But they need new faces for other IPs. Jeff was face of Overwatch and Brode was face of Hearthstone. Now I don't think they have a director communicating with the community like they were.

 

[Sei]

They literally have nothing to show.

 

[Loxley]

Makes total sense, they're not gonna have bombshell reveals and announcements every year. BlizzCon is a massive undertaking for pretty much everyone at Blizzard and I imagine there's a lot of pressure on their various development teams to have stuff fairly polished and ready to show, which must be an insane task to coordinate and organize; not to mention stressful for all involved. It's also probably a crazy expensive show to put on.

That said, this November is WoW's 20th Anniversary, and I would be surprised if they didn't do something outside the game itself to celebrate.

 

[canderous]

That said, this November is WoW's 20th Anniversary, and I would be surprised if they didn't do something outside the game itself to celebrate.

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They are, and global, so not just limited to California which is nice.

And we're thrilled to be planning multiple, global, in-person events to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Warcraft, which will be held in addition to the in-game celebrations across our Warcraft games throughout 2024.

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[JSRF]

It's probably better to be bi-annually anyway

 

[Mesoian]

Then hire the new ones who are capable. Not reviving a series just because original people are no longer there is a backward thinking.

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Feels like that's how you get dungeon keeper 2020.

 

[Grove]

I was shocked to not see Odyssey revealed last year. Then the cancellation happened. Don't really have anything to look forward to other than more WoW expansions and D4's expansion which will probably be shown throughout SGF/Gamescom.

 

[Shoichi]

Sort of makes sense, their main titles (D4 Vessel of Hatred and WoW The War Within) sound like they will either be shipping around or before BlizzCon 2024 usually in November.

I'll miss it for this year, its always a fun experience. But with TWW being rumored for Summer-Fall and BlizzCon for the last number of years being held in November with only D4's expansion possibly releasing around then. Unless they have new title announcements regarding SC or OW better to save the time and have the games attend other gaming conventions.

 

[medyej]

🫡 anytime, I know it wasn't going to happen. Mega copium.

Seeing some very large streamers this season in particular and last regarding bringing back 6v6. Putting aside how unbalanced and horrible 5v5 has been, the queue times this season has been exponentially worse, across ALL RANKS, with the wide grouping. Been seeing queue times personally over 10 minutes and even had one that lasted 20 minutes. Saw some pros waiting for over a hour. Queue times were the entire main argument why 6v6 had to go and yet they are worse than they have ever been in OW1.

Seagull returned to OW2 last week and played tank for three games and was about to go insane and was begging his group to switch roles or he was going to quit playing.

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So lets make the queue times worse with requiring one more tank? Huh?

 

[Acidote]

They went back to Blizzcon too soon, they're clearly still restructuring.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

It's an OPEX savings year for a lot of corporations. Simple as that. Big events with questionable ROI? lol

 

[CRIMSON-XIII]

It's a bit disappointing for them to cancel their blizzcon for a year.

I want to see a third person action game set in the warcraft universe, with exploration and cool visuals. It can be a unique art style or something hyper realistic or in between.

 

[MegaRockEXE]

It's the issue with conventions in general, despite the pandemic being over they're not back yet. New York Comic Con used to have these awesome as hell free parties sponsored by HBO or NBC or whatever to show off their latest show and there hasn't been a single once since 2019.

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Yeah, a lot of the big players aren't doing what they used to even well past the big pandemic period with the regularity as before.
That said, the story does mention that they plan to attend other events throughout the year. I think I only ever saw them at San Diego Comic-Con.
Then you have Sony which I think their last appearance was New York Comic-Con 2019.

 

[secretanchitman]

Makes sense considering they don't have much to show other than two expansions.

Honestly, may be better to do it every 2+ years when there's major content to show off.

 

[Mocha Joe]

So lets make the queue times worse with requiring one more tank? Huh?

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The whole argument of queue times getting "better" with 5v5 ended ended up being completely not true. because, shockingly enough, the tank role has been utter total shite to play (nobody saw this coming /s). it's never been a worse time to be a tank main. Which is causing Tank players to quit the game or moving to DPS / healer, and as a result, is making queue times WORSE. Because of less players queueing for tank which means less possible games.

So yes, going back to the 6v6 format would IMPROVE queue times because it would bring people back.

 

[uuddrlrl]

Don't you guys have phones announcements?

 

[Nacho]

MS already cutting the fat I guess. Hard to do these kinds of excess things when the company is likely in a phase where it's looking to cut anything it can after an acquisition.

Because this is a games forum I just want to clarify I'm not trying to poke at anyone or anything just noting how companies usually behave after being acquired and my guess is that this is related.

 

[Magnus]

I heard about this a month ago through the grapevine. Very very bummed. Just went to my first blizzcon last year and was awash with joy and meeting so much of the community. It wasn't the announcements or the hype alone that got me but truly that sense of community. It was really special. I was hoping it would be an annual pilgrimage for me going forward. I really hope it comes back next year.

 

[B-Dubs]

MS already cutting the fat I guess. Hard to do these kinds of excess things when the company is likely in a phase where it's looking to cut anything it can after an acquisition.

Because this is a games forum I just want to clarify I'm not trying to poke at anyone or anything just noting how companies usually behave after being acquired and my guess is that this is related.

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It's probably more to do with them having nothing to show at all now that the survival game is dead. The WoW expansion is coming in August and the rest of their games don't have anything big on the horizon.

I mean, shit, remember the reaction to the big blizzcon panel? It was absolutely dire before they went into the WoW stuff. They were reading off D4 patch notes ffs

 

[zashga]

Must be a light year; no buzz.

 

[Xando]

MS already cutting the fat I guess. Hard to do these kinds of excess things when the company is likely in a phase where it's looking to cut anything it can after an acquisition.

Because this is a games forum I just want to clarify I'm not trying to poke at anyone or anything just noting how companies usually behave after being acquired and my guess is that this is related.

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This seems like less of a MS thing and more blizzard turning all of their franchises except WoW into a complete mess.

Overwatch is a mess, StarCraft is dead, HotS is dead, Diablo is always on the verge of being a mess, their last two new IP were cancelled, hearthstone no one really gives a shit about and their mobile stuff isn't really that relevant for the blizzcon crowd.

 

[Tommy Showbiz]

The whole argument of queue times getting "better" with 5v5 ended ended up being completely not true. because, shockingly enough, the tank role has been utter total shite to play (nobody saw this coming /s). it's never been a worse time to be a tank main. Which is causing Tank players to quit the game or moving to DPS / healer, and as a result, is making queue times WORSE. Because of less players queueing for tank which means less possible games.

So yes, going back to the 6v6 format would IMPROVE queue times because it would bring people back.

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Brother, they are not bringing back 6v6.

It has gotten to the point that the devs literally ask content creators to not ask about it anymore in official interviews. It is not coming back.

 

[Protoman200X]

That's unfortunate, but I always seen BlizzCon as a convention that is too rich for my blood, so it's probably something I could never feasibly attend without it putting a dent on my wallet.

 

[Mobius and Pet Octopus]

hearthstone no one really gives a shit about

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huh? speak for yourself! HS often has live tournaments, expansion reveals, and great dev talks.

The whole argument of queue times getting "better" with 5v5 ended ended up being completely not true. because, shockingly enough, the tank role has been utter total shite to play (nobody saw this coming /s). it's never been a worse time to be a tank main. Which is causing Tank players to quit the game or moving to DPS / healer, and as a result, is making queue times WORSE. Because of less players queueing for tank which means less possible games.

So yes, going back to the 6v6 format would IMPROVE queue times because it would bring people back.

Click to shrink...

I've never had a long queue except inside of some of the new hero launch windows. Wide queue might have it's own issues atm, but it's also a new feature and would likely be worse under 6v6 and not any better. I'm sure they'll hammer that out. It just makes sense that wide groups would have longer queue times.

MS already cutting the fat I guess. Hard to do these kinds of excess things when the company is likely in a phase where it's looking to cut anything it can after an acquisition.

Because this is a games forum I just want to clarify I'm not trying to poke at anyone or anything just noting how companies usually behave after being acquired and my guess is that this is related.

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We just heard from Bliz execs that MS is letting them make their decisions. Blizzard is likely not doing it as it would end up being low value for the money and time spent that could be spent elsewhere.

 

[kurahador]

Maybe MS gonna fold Blizzcon into their own stuff now with showcasing COD, Halo, Gears, etc...

 

[Bengraven]

I thought Jez was being a bit dramatic when he said this might happen a few months ago.