With BlizzCon 2020 ruled out by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Blizzard has set up a digital alternative called BlizzConline for February.
BlizzConline will take place February 19 - 20, 2021, and Blizzard's planning to integrate as much of the traditional BlizzCon community experience as possible. That said, it sounds like a lot of the finer points are still being ironed out.
"While circumstances are keeping us from gathering in person this year, we're putting together a little something early next year to channel the spirit of BlizzCon into the form of an online show," Blizzard said in a press release. "We still have a lot of planning to do, and it'll be some time before we're ready to share more details – but we wanted to provide a heads-up on how you can be a part of the online fun."
Planned BlizzConline events include a community showcase for artists and creators, a cosplay contest and exhibition, a general talent spotlight, a digital storytelling contest, and a *checks notes* March of the Murlocs where attendees dress up as Murlocs and record themselves performing in a short video. These events will be taking submissions until January 4, 2021, so if you're hoping to participate (or indeed win), you've got until the end of the year to polish your craft. You can find rules and additional details for each event in Blizzard's post.
Blizzard is one of many publishers that was forced to pivot to digital events following the coronavirus outbreak. The summer of not-E3 is still going with an all-digital Tokyo Game Show scheduled for this Friday, September 25.
