There are still in-person events taking place this year, despite reduced attendance by companies who normally participate. Blizzcon 2021, however, will not be one of them. The November event has been postponed to 2022, according to an announcement from Blizzard.
Bumping up Blizzcon 2021
Saralyn Smith, executive producer of Blizzcon, confirmed the event cancellation in a post yesterday. The reasoning behind the cancellation was that the “…ongoing complexities and uncertainties of the pandemic” have slowed progress on planning the event to the point where Blizzard doesn’t feel like it could provide the sort of event it would like. But the company’s got some definite plans for next year, to make up for it.
Blizzcon 2021 is set to be replaced with “…a global event for the early part of next year, combining an online show along the lines of our recent BlizzConline with smaller in-person gatherings.” More details will emerge at a later date, according to Smith. Hopefully by then South Africa (and the world) is a little more prepared to go outside and mingle with other human beings again.
Blizzcon becomes another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, which torched pretty much every event globally in 2020. Other venues, like Mobile World Congress and IFA, have opted to forge ahead with in-person events. MWC, at present, is set to kick off at the end of June, while IFA has its customary September time slot.