In the wake of the numerous controversies against the company, Activision Blizzard wants to bring back their biggest event - BlizzCon - to an in-person audience by next year.
blizzcon
This was revealed as part of ActiBlizz president Mike Ybarra's plans, reports GamesRadar. He said that the company wants to return to a live event to enable them to "celebrate the community." As a result, the company has hired April McKee to be the new head person for BlizzCon. In his original interview with the Los Angeles Times, Ybarra mentions that the embattled developer/publisher is "committed" to bringing back their biggest game convention in 2023.
A lot of fans remember that BlizzCon hasn't been back in-person since its 2019 edition, where Overwatch 2 was first announced. Since then, all in-person editions of the convention have been canceled. BlizzCon 2021 was canceled in favor of an online-only event, same as BlizzCon 2020 - both as a result of the pandemic.
This year's supposed edition was canceled as well, though the company has mentioned how it plans to "reimagine the event as a whole. In a report by Polygon, ActiBlizz had planned "some announcements" in February to try to detail how exactly they'd do BlizzCon next time around. But as you can see, February has come and gone without any major announcement in sight.
As for the one who's handling the next event, April McKee as an events organizer is no slouch. Her career history involves a major stint at Xbox, where she served as the director of "Experiential Marketing Communications." In corpo-speak, that basically means "we hold gamer-focused events to make fans hyped about new video games coming out.
She was reportedly one of the main minds behind the annual E3 showcase for Xbox, so her skill and experience at organizing an in-person event is no joke. Plus, her hiring still connects to Microsoft's impending purchase of Blizzard - though it wasn't made clear whether she was hired because of the deal.
Either way, Ybarra's got a mountain of work to do if Activision Blizzard wants to get back in the good graces of the global gaming community.
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The Biggest Announcements in BlizzCon History
Before the proverbial s*** hit the fan for Blizzard, BlizzCon itself was one of the gaming industry's biggest events - following the likes of E3 and Gamescom, to name a few. Since 2005, the event has been home to several of the biggest, most encompassing announcements in the industry.
Here's a compilation of a few moments from the show's history, courtesy of Eurogamer:
Among these moments is the first time Overwatch was ever announced (2014). When the popular hero shooter was unveiled, fans were frothing at the mouth because it was the Warcraft and Diablo maker's first brand-new universe since 1997. The game's development was apparently in so much trouble during those years, resulting in a very emotional Chris Metzen taking to the stage.
BlizzCon was also where the legend of Red Shirt Guy began, when a certain fan pointed out a few lore inconsistencies to the very same people that wrote the story of World of Warcraft. Not to mention, it was home to one of the most legendary cosplays ever: the WoW gamer from an episode of South Park depicted by Jarrod Nandin (though he has passed away last year due to COVID, RIP.)
Either way, fans will be waiting with baited breath about new updates on the status of the convention moving forward. Ball's in your park, Mike.
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This article is posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce