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Blizzard Cancels Blizzcon 2012

By

25 January 2012

Blizzard Entertainment

One of the biggest, most respected gaming companies in the world, Blizzard Entertainment, holds an annual convention to show off the latest and greatest of their epic gaming series. The makers of the Warcraft franchise, Starcraft, and Diablo, have a huge year ahead of them. They most recently launched Starcraft II to a huge audience of RTS fans. World of Warcraft is in its 3rd expansion, with the 4th (Mists of Pandaria) due to arrive some time this year, and Diablo III is drawing ever-closer to release. It’s no surprise, then, that Blizzard has an awful lot to contend with this year. So much, in fact, that one of the biggest gaming conventions of all time will not be around this year. Yes, Blizzard has announced that they will not host a 2012 Blizzcon this year!

So why has Blizzard taken a pass? The official reason posted on Battle.net this morning is that the company is just too busy. Rather than take time out of their schedule to set up and host the convention, Blizzard instead wants to focus on finishing Diablo III, the Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft, and the upcoming Heart of the Swarm expansion for Starcraft II. Those reasons may be true, but it doesn’t seem likely that it’s the whole story. In the past, Blizzard has had no problem juggling the multitude of projects with a convention that doesn’t come until the fall. Diablo III is nearly complete, and due to launch in the next few months. Blizzard has been teasing it for a couple of years now, after all. That leaves only Mists of Pandaria and Heart of the Swarm, that we know of.

It’s not like Blizzard to miss out on promotional opportunities, either, especially ones as massive as Blizzcon has become. That’s not even taking into account the huge sums of money that the company makes off of ticket sales. Last year, attendees paid out $175 a ticket to come to the convention. It’s also a chance for Blizzard to show off their latest updates and roll out previews in a controlled environment. The real reason may lie in just how much the online world has changed in the few years that Blizzcon has been around. It’s not really necessary to host a huge convention anymore, just to make speeches and allow people to play preview versions of expansions or new games. The internet allows companies to broadcast keynote speeches online. As for game previews, Blizzard has moved more and more toward offering beta versions of their upcoming expansions to a limited audience. This not only saves on cost, but also allows for tighter control over who sees the content.

Despite no show this year, it’s a certainty that fans will not be losing interest in Blizzard products any time soon. World of Warcraft still caters to over 12 million players. Starcraft has almost as much of a fanbase, though it’s not an MMORPG. Diablo, meanwhile, is still hooking millions of players on the first two titles in the series, and the third volume is already breaking records for pre-release sales. Add to that the Battle.net world championships coming to Asia later this year, and it’s apparent that Blizzard can remain very strong without the need for a physical fan gathering.


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