In a move that arguably could be seen coming, Blizzard Entertainment has announced the cancellation of BlizzCon 2022, and that the formerly annual gaming event is being put on indefinite hold effective immediately. The announcement comes after months of severe controversy swirling around a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Activision-Blizzard.
BlizzCon has been an annual tradition for the well known developer and publisher of WarCraft, StarCraft, Diablo and Overwatch ever since 2005, and had an important place in the fandom culture that sprouted around these IPs. BlizzCon even weathered the COVID-19 pandemic by switching to an online format which, while not quite like the real thing, managed to keep up the unbroken annual streak.
Now, a highly publicized sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing has done what a global health crisis could not, and the company officially announced that next year's BlizzCon has been cancelled, and right now the whole event is on hold as it goes through a process of reimagining.
Unsurprisingly, Blizzard does not acknowledge the lawsuit at all in the announcement, but the connection is pretty clear. The company does state that "whatever the event looks like in the future, we also need to ensure that it feels as safe, welcoming, and inclusive as possible."