Hello everyone!
I hope you all are getting some rest after BlizzCon this year and had easy return trips home if you were traveling.
We’ve been listening to BlizzCon conversations happening across our forums, and social media. We want to hear what worked well and what missed the mark so we can make informed decisions for any events going forward.
To help with this, I’ve started consolidating the existing threads into this megathread. That makes it easier for our teams to monitor ongoing conversations, and hopefully provides a clear location for new feedback to be provided by anyone else visiting the forum.
Thank you all for your very well constructed feedback so far!
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Thread on reddit with over 110k views with a lot of the community sharing a similar rentiment.
For context, my partner and I have been to the last 5 BizzCons (latest one in 2019 pre-pandemic), and this by far was the worst one for many reasons. Based off of similar threads I’ve seen pop up here, on Reddit and speaking with folks at the convention, I think the general sentiment is that this year was extremely disappointing and I hope Blizzard spends time reviewing our feedback and takes action for the next one. General thoughts, and I’m interested to know if you guys feel the same or if I’m way off-base with my expectations:
Disorganized & Poorly Executed
- Getting into the convention Friday morning was an absolute nightmare. The line was blocks down harbor and into residential areas (folks were even coming out of their home to take photos), and unlike previous years, they didn’t close down adjacent streets for safety and proper line management. This poor management led to thousands of folks missing the opening ceremony and it was so clear that the outsourced production parties/security had no idea how to handle this. Combine that with the Anaheim Police Department needing to intervene for public safety, it was just awful.
- The entire convention felt disorganized and poorly executed, you could just “feel it”. Poor security, line management to get in the convention but also within the halls themselves, directions, and registration process. Both Blizzard Crew members and convention workers themselves often provided conflicting information on questions we asked, particularly around the Portal Pass, and it was very frustrating to deal with.
Portal Pass
Absolute huge waste of money. Between my partner and I, that was an “extra” $1000 we spent for literally nothing, really. We were promised dedicated lines and early entry, demo experiences in the lounge, dev meet and greets, but they could barely deliver on any of that
- We were straight up being routed with general entry and at one point saw hundreds of portal pass folks blocks back waiting to get in despite purchasing dedicated lines and entry. Turns out, there was a smaller side entrance that no one knew about, and it wasn’t until we checked in BlizzCon facebook groups / reddit that we knew this existed. Security and Blizzard Crew members were directing portal pass holders to the wrong area… rendering the value of “early entry” useless because on the first day no one could get in or was effectively being told where to go.
- The “demo/gameplay experience"S”" was just a few consoles loaded up with Overwatch 2. No other demo’s. Just one. Single experience. Not plural.
- The “viewing lounge” was small with not large enough of a screen to really enjoy it.
- The developer meet and greet schedules were never posted until today I believe… it was just random, and not what we were sold at all.
- Food was “meh” and very overpriced.
- The advertisement for the pass was that there was “and more”. There was no more. The above is it.
Downsizing & Lack of Content
- You felt the downsizing of the convention for sure. Two less halls, no eSports outside of Overwatch World Cup, but arguably more people crammed into tighter spaces made it so hard to really enjoy anything. There was very little to do, “experience” or even observe in any of the Halls. Thankfully some of them were cool to look at, but outside of that, honestly quite boring.
- No panels. I mean, what? No engineering, art or voice acting presentations (this I understand because of actor/writer strikes, but still). It was so empty in terms of wanting to learn more and experience things, and outside of the major keynotes that took place at specific times, there was nothing to enjoy in between those talks.
- All of the keynotes were done in the “arena” which was an annoying experience to deal with. Folks would camp there and it was very difficult to get in to see the talks you wanted to in person. If you couldn’t get in, you were expected to view them “elsewhere” as they were supposed to be “simultaneously” broadcasted throughout the hall. But this year, there was very little places to sit because of the downsizing, and the screens that existed in the halls that were removed (esports, HOTS, SC, etc) were used to help show that information… but they’re just gone.
- No live events to get hype about as you traversed the cons. In prior BlizzCons, they had WoW Arena Championship, HOTS, Overwatch, MDI, and other events that you could sit and get hyped about while you took a break and ate your lunch, etc. There is none of that here. It felt soulless and if you weren’t constantly moving throughout the hall, you’d just be bumped into and asked to move. Total sheep behavior, can’t even sit down to enjoy anything.
- No cool experiences like the art installation walkthrough that you used to be able to view and/or purchase that wen’t to charity.
- Very few gaming vendors doing any type of raffle/etc. I only saw like 3, none of which were particularly large brands like how they’ve been in the past.
Poor Layout & Planning
- The Warcraft hall was insane. Darkmoon Faire should NOT be in the same hall as WoW, Hearthstone, and now Rumble. There’s too much Warcraft IP in that space and with the popularity of the DMF, it made it unbearable. In fact, it’s so busy that they straight up closed access to it today and the line to get in was 4 hours. So, if you were expecting to do any merch collecting or pin trading there, good luck. Previous years this was on the 3rd floor with much more space, and absolutely should be done like this again going forward.
- The halls were joined by a single walk space in the middle of them that spread horizontally through them. Combine that with the fact that they had things stretched vertically throughout the halls, navigating to anything effectively was very difficult and made line management even more hard for them.
Merch
- Without a doubt the merch this time around was awful and I’m truly surprised about it. It was all very bland, and for the few interesting pieces they did have (plushies for most folks), they sold out so fast which honestly just isn’t the vibe.
- Like in previous years, there was no cool key art or really any cool collectables to get. No posters, just bland clothing, keychains, etc. Most of what was at the convention is available on the Blizzard Gear Shop, so it really just isn’t worth getting anything there.
Community Night & Closing Ceremony
- These should not be combined. It offered a nice break out and with the implementation of these both being done in the BlizzCon Arena… there is no way people are going to be able to enjoy this in person. Why even do this? Keep it so community night is Day 1 and Closing Ceremony / Music performances are day 2.
Anyways, those are my thoughts. Please really think before considering purchasing a portal pass going forward. It was not worth it and I wish I could get my money back for it.
I hope ya’ll were able to make the most of it! We did our best, but it’s still very frustrating to think about. Blizzard knows better.
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I agree with all your points. I’m surpised cause they’ve been doing this for almost 2 decades and you’d think they forgot how huge crowds are.
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I agree, I hope next year is better!
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Absolutely agreed, we last went in 2018 and it felt much more interactive and busy with all the different panels (that you could specifically go to to attend), more things to do and see in between those, more space especially for the Darkmoon Fair, better merch in the store, etc.
You sometimes still got stuck in queues but nowhere as dramatic as this year, and it all felt better organised - because it was.
Currently watching the K-Pop band on a screen… and I’m clearly too old for this stuff. Meanwhile husband is taking a last stab at the Darkmoon Fair.
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I have to agree with you too. This was my first Blizzcon after watching online for years and if it wasn’t for the amazing people I met today while waiting in line for the tokens this would have been a bust.
Tips for blizzard would be simple things like tv’s in the dark moon fair area since I missed some of the opening ceremony on day 1 waiting in the pin line and having staff that had any clue.
If you do the portal pass scheme again please note that there was no information anywhere about lines for portal pass people posted in the lounge area, 99.99% of the staff had no idea wtf was going on and half were pissed if you asked them about portal pass lines, when they “let us in early today” that was a whopping 15 minutes before they let GA in too which was a slap in the face since an hour usually lasts - I don’t now- an hour, no one helping/assisting ADA individuals for awhile in the dark moon fair area during the running of the bulls that it was and when someone came she was finding things out on the fly ( honestly what the hell bliz) or even any markings for them for where to go (this honestly was the most stupid of the over sites you did).
Even the give away stuff at the end in the portal lounge I found out at the last possible minute and managed to grab something but I mean just say something when we’re there in the morning.
Just a free bottle of water would have been nice for the price. Ok and something special in game that wasn’t included in the package you did might have made me happier.
So all in all learn from this bliz please. I’ve been playing for a looong time and would love to come back……If you clean this up.
Ok I’ll get off the soap box and hand it to the next person.
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I feel really bad for the blizzard employees. They’re doing this for their fans and most are not in customer facing roles at the company. I talked to a guy who ran some of the internals for communication and he was at a help desk and seemed in the dark for a lot of the portal pass stuff. 
Just seems insane that they don’t have more third party people running the show.
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I didn’t even go this year, but I could tell something was really off. (I’ve been to 8 Blizzcons in the past)
-Why is the main stage in the arena? It can barely hold 10% of the amount of tickets sold
-Why is community night on day 2? really screws with cosplayers especially, as they now have to dress up both days.
-Where are all the eSports? Did Blizz just ditch everything out of spite for OWL dying?
-Where are all the panels? I know all the notable devs from the past have quit, but is there nothing else to show any more?
-Why is the closing ceremony so short? was this just an afterthought?
I’m really glad I didn’t invest in the trip. I feel bad for those who paid so much for such a half-assed con. Almost wondering if this is the last Blizzcon they will ever hold, especially since this is the first time it didn’t sell out, and the few that made it this year are going to be reluctant to come back again.
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This was my 4th Blizzcon since 2009 and it will be my last. I agree with everything the op said. In addition - No StarCraft content. No Blizzard arcade like they had in 2019. Shorter convention hours. I would have really been pissed if I sprung for the Portal Pass. I had to sit on the concrete floor to watch the opening ceremony because there was absolutely not enough seating.
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I’ve been to 6 prior Blizzcon’s and this year was definitely the worst. Everything the OP said is spot on.
Every year I look forward to this event, and this year I’m left wondering if I’ll come back. My friends flew in from all across the country and they don’t want to come back. Blizzcon has always brought us together. We’ve gone from teenagers to parents. This was a time that we could share our love for Blizzard games, reunite, catch up and cherish seeing each other once again. They are looking for a different convention to go to now.
As a 2x portal pass purchaser, I spent $1k extra for nothing. We literally got nothing. The developer meet and greet happened in the halls on the first floor right after they left the lounge for all GA to experience. We didn’t get access to all halls, like promised. We didn’t get access to the OC. The Fire Marshal shut down DMF. We got scammed.
I would encourage all PP holders to file a fraud complaint with your credit card company for a partial refund to match the price of GA. Blizzard needs to feel the pain. Taking advantage of your most loyal Blizzcon attendees is wrong.
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This was my 4th Blizzcon and my wife’s 3rd and we will not be returning until Blizzard fixes this hot mess they’ve created.
Absolutely 10000% agree with OP, this event was dismal at best. Couldn’t have stated it better myself.
I will add that the gashapon (RNG) scheme they seemingly applied to everything was absolutely garbage. Being unable to directly pick you favorite plushies or directly purchase that one “pretty shiny” you’ve got your eye on because it’s in line with your favorite franchise/character – sucks.
Furthermore, I’d like to iterate a second time (even though OP already said it) the merch selection was terrible, normally there are some amazing “must haves” in the shop and DMF but y’all just had items that could have been purchased online outside of the event. Extremely lame and unimaginative.
I’m so glad we did not waste the money on portal pass this year. I kinda wish we just stayed home and watched the live streams – at least we would have had somewhere to sit without being ran over or bumped out of the way.
Blizzard – bring back the team that ran these events prior to COVID. They were amazing and talented people who knocked these events out of the park for you and your company. Bring back e-sports, like not just OW, bring back SC, HOTS, MDI. Lastly, please for the love of all that’s holy, please put DMF back in it’s own hall on level 3. It has absolutely no business being smashed in with the rest of the Warcraft IP. WoW alone should have it’s own hall, it’s own massive stage with thousands of seats to accommodate everyone (considering WoW is basically the prime attraction for what I would assume to be a solid 70% of us who make the annual pilgrimage to Anaheim).
Y’all need more dev panels, live Q & A, and more community involvement. You can sit up on your stages and preach “we’re family” all you want; but your words fall flat on their face when you treat your “family” with overpriced tickets and a terrible in-person experience.
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Soulless shell of its former self.
If it wasn’t for Metzen, I probably would not have had any enthusiasm for day 2.
Also!!! The arena door control was whack: none of the various staff were on the same page so you’d ask one person if it was okay to go out the arena doors to the bathroom, then the people “guarding” the doors wouldn’t let you back in until you hunted down someone who would escort you back to your seat.
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100% agreed. My 8th Blizzcon and an absolute let down for all the reasons above. All the previous ones were great. This was an absolute disorganized mess. Huge waste of time and money!
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Couldn’t agree more - as someone who watched all the virtual tickets growing up this and being able to attend my first BlizzCon this has felt like a spit in the face. Felt like I was taking crazy pills as this isn’t what Blizzcon should have been.
I still had fun and got to go to OC without a ticket and both wow panels + community night/closing concert but it was with EXTREME confusion and headache that by the time I sat down I was already defeated.
Gosh the convention works were also extremely mean at times also? Not sure if that is normal but took me back.
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Honestly you deserve this. Let me explain. Blizz has done nothing but show that things have gone down hill and you still pay for over priced tickets and trinkets in a city that allows people to steal and poop everywhere. Seems very ironic. A wow expansion that is horrible at best coupled with a company that has employees living in what I believe one former employee described a a commune. 7 people in a studio because of high rent and low wages.
This company no longer respects it’s customers let alone itself. Diablo 4 is a joke. Metzen coming back for, face it, a pay check and I am sure a good one. He will sell copies of wow to “the sheep” as you described them. At least the experience was inclusive.
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I agree with the initial post. I would like to add that the Diablo area had no demos and was all about photo opportunities, watching streamers, and trying out flavors of Mountain Dew. If felt like a filler. If you are going to shrink the space that you use, please don’t waste it with streaming stations. Use it for demos or panels.
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Lets be mindful that convention workers have 2 sets.
Blue shirts blizzard employees who don’t do event organizing type work except these 2 days a year.
The security staff who get limited info and just say random things or do random things. Don’t 100% trust their words cause they only kind of sort of know whats happening. I had one try to say the Blink store was the only “store” and they did not know DMF was a thing.
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Make Heroes of the Storm great Again.
The game needs a season pass to be paid for. It takes real achievements so that players can farm for them. Achievements that take a while. The core Heroes of the Storm community certainly wouldn’t mind giving 5-10 euros a month for the game. If only it were developed further. Look at the streamers on Twitch. They even hold internal tournaments and much more. And bring back the Hero League and the chaos games. Thanks for listening.End
This was my 3rd year going as I went back to the last one in 2019 and I must say, if it wasn’t for my friends and my excitement for WoW I wouldn’t have gone. But going this year there was definitely a lot of wrong and not a lot of right.
The line for open ceremony on Friday was atrocious, literally wrapped around a few blocks and luckily for me I stayed at the Hilton so we were just right there but at one point none of the staff knew what to do at all, and pretty much had this “idk lol” attitude. Once in for the open ceremony there was no open seating anywhere besides the OW area in the bleachers. Every where else you pretty much had to stand up. Unlike previous years where you could go to any hall and find seating.
Once the ceremony was done I went straight for the DMF as I was interested in the pins and hopefully the mystery boxes they had in 2019, no luck on the mystery boxes and the lines for everything were just out of control. The staff was so useless and literally the rudest people ever.
The store was the worst part, I had picked a time for 4pm to pick my items up and I thought it would just be a breeze like it was on Thursday. No, literally stood in line for a hour and half and you could tell they were just understaffed and running around with their heads cut off. I over heard one of the employees apologizing to some one for the crazy wait and how the previous day was a lot faster and that they were severely understaffed. But the whole system of getting some ones order number and then going in the back to find it just boggled my mind.
All in all idk if I would even come back, they over sold tickets. Instead of capping it they got greedy and oversold.
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Let me give you feedback from someone from across the ocean.
We were considering flying to Blizzcon from Europe, but instead we decided to keep what we did in the past Blizzcons… we organized for friends from our guild a Blizzcon viewing party.
I have to agree that this time the content was somewhat disappointing. I would not say that it was not interesting or that we did not enjoy it. But I personally missed some special topics - voice acting was always one of my favorite panels; Q&A for various games with developers on the stage answering questions of the Blizzcon participants. We were also missing the casters, which in every previous Blizzcon did amazing job during the breaks between channels.
Viewing was also quite difficult. We had to switch between youtoube channels if we wanted to choose between “what’s next” and “guild clash”. Previously the Blizzcon website was greatly designed and directly from the site it was possible to start viewing whichever stage / panel we wanted. Not this time, everything was only through Youtube or Twitch, but the timing was up to us not to miss something.
Due to watching guild clash, we decided to watch community night later. Because it was late, we went to sleep, only to find out that in the morning the community night is still not available for replay and we could not watch it together with our friends. Our friends had to go home already. Ok, we’ll watch it later when it’s available, but previous years the recordings were available just few moments after the specific panel ended.
Anyways, to wrap it up - even for a remote viewer this Blizzcon was the weakest we have seen so far.
I really hope Blizzard realizes this and they will get back to their high standards. It’s not about the people in Anaheim, it’s about the people all around the world.
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