Video game-making giant Blizzard Entertainment, the largest software company in OC by headcount, says it will have a “lot to show” at this year’s annual BlizzCon fanfest, which is expected to return to an in-person event after pivoting to an online version during the pandemic and taking 2022 off altogether.
“You’ll hear more in the next (approximately) two weeks,” President Mike Ybarra said on Twitter on May 4.
“We’re excited, we have a lot to show and celebrate together.”
BlizzCon is one of the most eagerly awaited annual events in the vast gaming world, but it has been disrupted the past few years by COVID-19 and more recently by a variety of employee allegations against the company that pushed the company to hold off on an event last year.
Details on the 2023 edition are still next to non-existent.
The city of Anaheim usually hosts the event, but hasn’t been confirmed as the host this year.
“BlizzCon is one of the most fun and exciting shows we’ve hosted, and we look forward to hosting the next one,” a city spokesman told the Business Journal on May 5.
“But, at this time, we do not have a date set.”
Blizzard Entertainment had an estimated 2,700 employees in Orange County as of last summer.
Its parent company, Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) in Santa Monica, was recently rebuffed by U.K. regulators in its attempt to be sold to Microsoft Corp. for about $69 billion.
Shares in Activision Blizzard have fallen about 2% over the last year and were trading at $76 as of May 10.
