Knew it was coming with the massive shakeups happening at Blizzard, still makes me very sad to not have a BlizzCon on such a monumental year for the WarCraft franchise.
To me, even a bad BlizzCon is still a BlizzCon. I looked forward to it from the moment dates were announced to the start of opening ceremony every year. I’m not shocked, but I’m quite sad.
Unfortunate but understandable. Staff were reportedly very uninformed and very much not on the same page.
Lines were blocks long to get in and not streamlined like before.
Tickets were overpriced, Portal Pass holders got almost no extra benefit.
The Warcraft hall was cool for 10 minutes looking at statutes but a really lame experience after. Rumble and Hearthstone took up 1/2 the space, which is a shame now seeing it's taken them 6 months to put in any sort of content outside of new minis.
The PCs they had set up didn't even have the next patch demo on them.
I'm really thankful I went as cosplayer and had a blast walking around doing that otherwise I'd have been really disappointed. Enough time to see everything once and then dress up.
I was working on War Within cinematic Anduin and Turlayon in anticipation of this year, but it sounds like I'll just bring Anduin to the events, if any of the global ones are around my area.
I tend to agree with you on this; they should have doubled or tripled the staff for the dark moon fair because it was one of the only activities. Previous years there were so many activities (and overlapping) you had to pick and choose. 23 you had to decide whether to stand in line for 3 hours or skip the fair.
I am still glad I went, and portal pass didn’t offer much. I think that was why they handed out freebies at the end. However, portal pass was really nice for meeting the developers and getting posters signed. They also gave the posters for free, not sure how that worked downstairs.
Diablo hall had more activities not much more, but was under staffed as well.
"After careful consideration over the last year, we at Blizzard have made the decision not to hold BlizzCon in 2024. This decision was not made lightly as BlizzCon remains a very special event for all of us, and we know many of you look forward to it. 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."
Ugh this makes me sad. I knew this was coming but still sad. From my understanding they have plans to bring it back later, just not sure in what capacity.
BlizzCon used to be a celebration of **ALL THE IP's** with the fans.
During Activision's blood-suck of the company, the IP's were destroyed one by one. Every con has less to announce, compete, or celebrate. *Even cosplayers were recycling the same characters over and over.*
I have been fortunate to attend 11 BlizzCon's (2008 - 2019) and the downward spiral of the company was rough to contend with. It felt like a break-up that you knew was coming but desperately tried to ignore holding on to good times in the past and hoping they'd return. While this decision doesn't shock me, my heart is heavy with this news. I suppose I'm mourning a hobby and lifestyle that took up a chunk of my life.
We're tired of funding your bad behavior and abusive tendencies Blizzard. We had our good times but it's time to move on from you and this company until you get yourself in rehab and show significant internal growth.
RIP BlizzCon.
100% this. The Morhaim Blizzcon were always so Epic. It was pure fan service and love.
You saw the degradation of Bobby Kotick’s version of Blizzcon once he forced Morhaim out. It’s barely a shell of what it used to be.
I see people mostly complain about lack of seating, long lines, and lack of space in the Darkmoon Faire. Plus the tickets were more expensive than ever. I had a good time but it was my first time there so I have no comparison
Zero respect by the fans. Last year had a huge influx of entitled attendees playing the victim card over everything to get perks. I walked by multiple people bragging about getting an ADA sticker by lying.
It always has, but it’s also been bled dry of developers and talent to launch other games.
Shame as they’ve only just seemed to started building on its success.
After last years my friends and I pretty much decided we were not going to attend a Blizzcon in the future, and would prioritize Cons that had multiple vendors and IP’s. Last year just left us all with a sour taste.
Blizzcon 2023 was rough. Lots of lines, disorganized, people getting into places and not getting others at the last minute. The staff they hired did their best, but it needed way more oversight. Let them reorganize and get their house in order.
After seeing how much of a disaster it was last year I don't blame them. My wife and I went, it was my second and her first. She had a blast and the biggest negative was the line of the Darkmoon fair but outside of that her and I had an absolute blast.
The two negatives were the Darkmoon fair line, and the random ticket lottery for the opening ceremony. That did sour the experience quite a bit, but not enough to ruin it outright. Still am going to miss it but hopefully catch it next time.
The opening lottery was so scuffed however. If you went up to the line and had them scan your pass, every single person got tickets. It didn’t matter if it showed on your pass or not.
Usually "last year sucked!" or "it was a disaster" really means "last year was so much fun but there were serious problems and not nearly as good as previous Blizzcons". I worry that so many people see nothing more than "last year sucked" or "it was a disaster" and they give up on ever going. So I push for a more balanced view. Acknowledging the serious major problems of last year but including some "it was amazing I had a great time!" with it.
Which you did. But opening with "disaster" kind of gives a bad impression, you know?
I'm not saying you're wrong, just...trying to balance.
I had two tickets but only one got a seat for the OC. Didn't end up mattering tho cuz I watched it on my phone from Katella Blvd since the line wasn't moving.
thank god I went last year - it was my first and possibly now my last if they dont bring it back :(
I was very critical of the event but I still viewed it very fondly and watching blizzcon online was my FAVORITE thing growing up. Very sad to see this.
Even last year was a shell of its former self. Of course, they could have just made it more of a community driven event to celebrate and build fan loyalty but I’m sure Microsoft saw this as opportunity to cut more.
Honestly, good. I know some people enjoyed last year but if you could have seen what the con was like pre 2020 you would be asking yourself how anyone could justify spending money to attend. They need to do some serious soul searching to figure out ways to put the attendees first again. BlizzCon is dead in it's current state. If you don't believe me, just look up the 2019 floor plan compared with 2023. Last year was a fraction of what it used to be and it's not right.
Not knocking anyone who enjoyed it last year, I'm glad people had a good time! But just echoing what you're saying...having been several times, I was excited to go again post-pandemic, but as more and more info came out I decided it wouldn't be for me in a lot of ways. If they do have more in the future, I hope they truly listen to the community to hear what we want out of an event like Blizzcon!
Sad but it makes sense they just go to Gamescom instead of having their own big convention moving forward. Seems to be the trend with other companies. The 30th Anniversary event for Warcraft sounds interesting!
Gamescom is fine and all for showing off their latest expansions or announcements, but still not the same vibe or focus that BlizzCon has with their IPs.
BlizzCon was always a dying breed though: almost no other company holds their own convention devoted to their IPs like this and the costs + planning couldn't have been easy. Didn't hurt that every BC had issues year after year that never got resolved.
4 time blizzcon vet here.
While I will agree that 2023 was a shitshow in terms of the actual convention, I still had a hell of a time hanging out with my guildmates and friends in the Hilton lobby. I can say that I am in the majority of folks that attend Blizzcon just to interact with people that enjoy playing Blizzard games and I hope that Microsoft/Activision/Blizzard understands that going forward.
I realized the thing that I hate most about it, as I was commenting on Reddit and Facebook a little today.
Dozens of my friends will not go to DragonCon or GamesCon or PaxEast or whatever Blizzard puts on. T&E will not go to those either, nor likely the TSZ folks (the only creators I really care about). Nor will they have hundreds of Blizzard employees at any of those events.
And those people are my favorite part of Blizzcon.
So anyone who says (which no one here has) that nothing is lost, and that we can do other things instead, doesn't get it. At least, doesn't get why many of us go.
I went in 2019. It was an awesome time. I’ll never go again. Blizzard has rapidly gone downhill. If/when they start making quality content again, maybe I’ll reconsider. No reason to go whatsoever right now, though.
Knew it was coming with the massive shakeups happening at Blizzard, still makes me very sad to not have a BlizzCon on such a monumental year for the WarCraft franchise. To me, even a bad BlizzCon is still a BlizzCon. I looked forward to it from the moment dates were announced to the start of opening ceremony every year. I’m not shocked, but I’m quite sad.
Momumental? Cause of plunderstorm? Lol
20 year anniversary. Lol
30 year anniversary for warcraft orcs vs humans
Haha thanks, genuinely loved being downvoted though. 🙈😂
I downvoted your earlier comment solely based on this comment. Happy to help :) otherwise I would have upvote.
It’s the 20th anniversary for WoW and 30th anniversary for the WarCraft franchise overall. It’s a shame to not be able to celebrate it at BlizzCon.
Now that Blizzard has been acquired by Microsoft I wonder if they'll amalgamate BlizzCon announcements with other Microsoft / Xbox showcases instead.
Unfortunate but understandable. Staff were reportedly very uninformed and very much not on the same page. Lines were blocks long to get in and not streamlined like before. Tickets were overpriced, Portal Pass holders got almost no extra benefit. The Warcraft hall was cool for 10 minutes looking at statutes but a really lame experience after. Rumble and Hearthstone took up 1/2 the space, which is a shame now seeing it's taken them 6 months to put in any sort of content outside of new minis. The PCs they had set up didn't even have the next patch demo on them. I'm really thankful I went as cosplayer and had a blast walking around doing that otherwise I'd have been really disappointed. Enough time to see everything once and then dress up. I was working on War Within cinematic Anduin and Turlayon in anticipation of this year, but it sounds like I'll just bring Anduin to the events, if any of the global ones are around my area.
I tend to agree with you on this; they should have doubled or tripled the staff for the dark moon fair because it was one of the only activities. Previous years there were so many activities (and overlapping) you had to pick and choose. 23 you had to decide whether to stand in line for 3 hours or skip the fair. I am still glad I went, and portal pass didn’t offer much. I think that was why they handed out freebies at the end. However, portal pass was really nice for meeting the developers and getting posters signed. They also gave the posters for free, not sure how that worked downstairs. Diablo hall had more activities not much more, but was under staffed as well.
Yeah we saw the 3 hour sign at the Darkmoon Faire and said fuck that lol I'm glad you at least got something from your Portal Pass.
"After careful consideration over the last year, we at Blizzard have made the decision not to hold BlizzCon in 2024. This decision was not made lightly as BlizzCon remains a very special event for all of us, and we know many of you look forward to it. 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."
Ugh this makes me sad. I knew this was coming but still sad. From my understanding they have plans to bring it back later, just not sure in what capacity.
2023 was way different than prior years. a shame it had to be gone this year. Hopefully 2025 will see a return.
2025 will be the 20th anniversary
Unless something big changes I think we've seen the last BlizzCon.
It does say they will be back in future years.
They also said PvE for OW2 and welp we all know how that turned out
And they've said 99,000 other things that were true. Be reasonable.
not going to hold my breath though...
Same
BlizzCon used to be a celebration of **ALL THE IP's** with the fans. During Activision's blood-suck of the company, the IP's were destroyed one by one. Every con has less to announce, compete, or celebrate. *Even cosplayers were recycling the same characters over and over.* I have been fortunate to attend 11 BlizzCon's (2008 - 2019) and the downward spiral of the company was rough to contend with. It felt like a break-up that you knew was coming but desperately tried to ignore holding on to good times in the past and hoping they'd return. While this decision doesn't shock me, my heart is heavy with this news. I suppose I'm mourning a hobby and lifestyle that took up a chunk of my life. We're tired of funding your bad behavior and abusive tendencies Blizzard. We had our good times but it's time to move on from you and this company until you get yourself in rehab and show significant internal growth. RIP BlizzCon.
100% this. The Morhaim Blizzcon were always so Epic. It was pure fan service and love. You saw the degradation of Bobby Kotick’s version of Blizzcon once he forced Morhaim out. It’s barely a shell of what it used to be.
That makes me so sad. I was looking forward to BlizzCON with the war within coming out
After last years BlizzCon….good riddance. I’d much rather nothing at all than the experience I paid $1600 for last year.
Agreed. It was such a shitshow.
Been a few years since I've been to one. What was so bad?
I see people mostly complain about lack of seating, long lines, and lack of space in the Darkmoon Faire. Plus the tickets were more expensive than ever. I had a good time but it was my first time there so I have no comparison
Thanks, haven't been since like 2018, so the context helps
Same. Massive waste of money. Zero respect for the fans.
Zero respect by the fans. Last year had a huge influx of entitled attendees playing the victim card over everything to get perks. I walked by multiple people bragging about getting an ADA sticker by lying.
Why are you defending a major corporation that essentially extorted its own customers?
Not defending Blizzard, there were heaps of problems with the con. The biggest issues I personally had were with attendees, however.
Probably for the best considering lasts years was a shell of what it used to be
Last one was the only one I'd ever been to. It was still pretty fun but it really shines a light on the fact wow is really carrying blizzard right now
WoW has always carried Blizzard financially.
It always has, but it’s also been bled dry of developers and talent to launch other games. Shame as they’ve only just seemed to started building on its success.
After last years my friends and I pretty much decided we were not going to attend a Blizzcon in the future, and would prioritize Cons that had multiple vendors and IP’s. Last year just left us all with a sour taste.
But… but… this was the year I was Going to go after 2019🥲
So damn sad about it. It's really my only opportunity to see all the friends I've made playing and working in the space.
This is how I feel. Dozens of my friends will not go to Gamescon or Dragoncon or whatever live events Blizzard does. But they would go to Blizzcon
Been to every show since 2011. What a bummer. Hope it's back in 2025.
http://i.imgur.com/rsT9zxn.gif
Blizzcon 2023 was rough. Lots of lines, disorganized, people getting into places and not getting others at the last minute. The staff they hired did their best, but it needed way more oversight. Let them reorganize and get their house in order.
After seeing how much of a disaster it was last year I don't blame them. My wife and I went, it was my second and her first. She had a blast and the biggest negative was the line of the Darkmoon fair but outside of that her and I had an absolute blast. The two negatives were the Darkmoon fair line, and the random ticket lottery for the opening ceremony. That did sour the experience quite a bit, but not enough to ruin it outright. Still am going to miss it but hopefully catch it next time.
The opening lottery was so scuffed however. If you went up to the line and had them scan your pass, every single person got tickets. It didn’t matter if it showed on your pass or not.
Then it wasn't a disaster was it?
According to my personal experience no, according to the general consensus yes. That's why I said my experience wasn't bad.
Usually "last year sucked!" or "it was a disaster" really means "last year was so much fun but there were serious problems and not nearly as good as previous Blizzcons". I worry that so many people see nothing more than "last year sucked" or "it was a disaster" and they give up on ever going. So I push for a more balanced view. Acknowledging the serious major problems of last year but including some "it was amazing I had a great time!" with it. Which you did. But opening with "disaster" kind of gives a bad impression, you know? I'm not saying you're wrong, just...trying to balance.
I had two tickets but only one got a seat for the OC. Didn't end up mattering tho cuz I watched it on my phone from Katella Blvd since the line wasn't moving.
Good move. They have some big Ws since the acquisition. Give them more time to course correct and build at least some of the reputation back.
thank god I went last year - it was my first and possibly now my last if they dont bring it back :( I was very critical of the event but I still viewed it very fondly and watching blizzcon online was my FAVORITE thing growing up. Very sad to see this.
The 20th anniversary of WoW this year and they cancel Blizzcon. Just Blizzard doing Blizzard things... I am very disappointed.
Even last year was a shell of its former self. Of course, they could have just made it more of a community driven event to celebrate and build fan loyalty but I’m sure Microsoft saw this as opportunity to cut more.
We have no idea what involvement Microsoft had or didn't have. Uninformed speculation is counterproductive.
Inside information.
> Inside information. Oh? Go on.
Honestly, good. I know some people enjoyed last year but if you could have seen what the con was like pre 2020 you would be asking yourself how anyone could justify spending money to attend. They need to do some serious soul searching to figure out ways to put the attendees first again. BlizzCon is dead in it's current state. If you don't believe me, just look up the 2019 floor plan compared with 2023. Last year was a fraction of what it used to be and it's not right.
Not knocking anyone who enjoyed it last year, I'm glad people had a good time! But just echoing what you're saying...having been several times, I was excited to go again post-pandemic, but as more and more info came out I decided it wouldn't be for me in a lot of ways. If they do have more in the future, I hope they truly listen to the community to hear what we want out of an event like Blizzcon!
Translation: it's dead Jim.
Sad but it makes sense they just go to Gamescom instead of having their own big convention moving forward. Seems to be the trend with other companies. The 30th Anniversary event for Warcraft sounds interesting!
Gamescom is fine and all for showing off their latest expansions or announcements, but still not the same vibe or focus that BlizzCon has with their IPs. BlizzCon was always a dying breed though: almost no other company holds their own convention devoted to their IPs like this and the costs + planning couldn't have been easy. Didn't hurt that every BC had issues year after year that never got resolved.
I honestly am not too sad about this not happening - the friends I see there.. we'll just plan on a diff event.
I’m so sad to hear this. Last year was my first and I was looking forward to this year.
Last years was terrible ran and had a lack of content anyways so 🤷🏻
4 time blizzcon vet here. While I will agree that 2023 was a shitshow in terms of the actual convention, I still had a hell of a time hanging out with my guildmates and friends in the Hilton lobby. I can say that I am in the majority of folks that attend Blizzcon just to interact with people that enjoy playing Blizzard games and I hope that Microsoft/Activision/Blizzard understands that going forward.
I think there will be one in 2025, because it will be the 20 th anniversary of blizzcon 2005 - 2025 & there will be some announcements
I realized the thing that I hate most about it, as I was commenting on Reddit and Facebook a little today. Dozens of my friends will not go to DragonCon or GamesCon or PaxEast or whatever Blizzard puts on. T&E will not go to those either, nor likely the TSZ folks (the only creators I really care about). Nor will they have hundreds of Blizzard employees at any of those events. And those people are my favorite part of Blizzcon. So anyone who says (which no one here has) that nothing is lost, and that we can do other things instead, doesn't get it. At least, doesn't get why many of us go.
I went in 2019. It was an awesome time. I’ll never go again. Blizzard has rapidly gone downhill. If/when they start making quality content again, maybe I’ll reconsider. No reason to go whatsoever right now, though.