Blizzard has announced that they are cancelling BlizzCon 2022 in order to "reimagine" the event. Announced via a blog post on their official website, the event, which was originally slated to take place in February, will no longer be going ahead.
This will be the second year in a row that BlizzCon won't be held, as the 2021 outing was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The post explains that the reason why they are cancelling the event is because of the large undertaking that putting on an event like BlizzCon puts on the company and they believe that "the energy it would take to put on a show like this is best directed towards supporting our teams and progressing development of our games and experiences."
The statement provided in the blog post continues:
Additionally, we would also like to take the time to reimagine what a BlizzCon event of the future could look like. The first BlizzCon was held 16 years ago, and so much has changed in the time since—most notably, the multiple ways in which players and communities can come together and feel like they are a part of something bigger. Whatever the event looks like in the future, we also need to ensure that it feels as safe, welcoming, and inclusive as possible. We’re committed to continual communication with our players, and we see BlizzCon playing a big role in that going forward. We’re excited about what we’ll do with the event when we revisit it in the future.
The post goes on to confirm that while the event will not be held, there will still be announcements and updates provided for upcoming games and content under the Activision-Blizzard banner.
One more thing we wanted to make clear: even though we aren’t holding BlizzConline in February, we’ll still be making announcements and updates for our games. We’re proud of our teams and the progress they’ve made across our games. We have a lot of exciting upcoming news and releases to share with you. You’ll continue hearing about those through our franchise channels, with the talented people on the BlizzCon team playing a part in supporting these efforts.
This announcement comes while Activision-Blizzard is still part of an ongoing lawsuit against the studio. The lawsuit was issued by the state of California for an alleged "frat boy culture" that fostered widespread harassment, a toxic work environment, and discrimination, among numerous other things.