Blizzard Entertainment was forced to cancel its annual BlizzCon fan convention earlier this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the company has announced new plans for an online-only version of the show. BlizzConline will take place on February 19th–20th, 2021.
BlizzCon — which is usually held in November as an in-person fan event — is where Blizzard typically makes some of the biggest announcements for its stable of popular franchises, including World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Starcraft, Hearthstone, and Diablo. The moved event will likely provide the company a chance to offer updates on some of its previously announced titles from last year’s events, including Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4.
While it’s no doubt disappointing to many that the in-person festivities won’t be taking place this year, Blizzard is using the opportunity to offer more inclusive versions of some of its community showcase events for artists, cosplays, and short film producers. Thanks to the online nature of BlizzConline, it’ll be opening up these events to more participants around the world than just those who were able to trek out to the in-person event — a nice silver lining for fans who look forward to events like the cosplay contest every year.
Blizzard promises that it’ll have more details about what to expect for BlizzConline closer to the event.
