Blizzard today announced that it will be holding a new in-person Blizzcon convention at the Anaheim Convention Center. However, this did not occur until 2026.
In today’s press release, Blizzard revealed the next in-person Blizzcon date on September 12th and 13th, 2026. He also promised to regain his favorite convention elements, such as opening ceremony, panels, dark moon fairs, competitions and hands-on gameplay. Additionally, Blizzard states that “we aim to “meanorize this iconic celebration and create an unforgettable experience for everyone who participates in it.”
Blizzard did not provide an explanation as to why they skipped 2025 or whether they have plans to celebrate online this year.
Blizzcon’s status has been Rocky for the past few years. It was previously an annual event, but like many other similar events, it was cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It returned as a digital show in 2021, and then again hiatus in 2022. In 2023, BlizzCon was held in person again in 2024 with plans to follow up on it, but that year the event was also cancelled. There was no reason at the time, but the 2024 cancellation followed by a massive surge in layoffs following an acquisition by Microsoft.
The question remains as to what Blizzcon looks like under Microsoft’s surveillance, and we won’t know the answer until at least next year. At the very least, there’s plenty of time to plan cosplay.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at Passthecontroller. You can find her posts at Bluesky @Duckvalentine.bsky.social. Do you have any tips for the story? Send to [email protected].
