BlizzCon 2023 slated as a “total disaster” as attendees complain about queues and “poor management”

techradar.com:

Blizzard Entertainment’s official gaming convention, BlizzCon, took place over the weekend (between November 3 and 5). Since the event, numerous fans who attended have taken to social media to complain about the enormous queues and what’s they describe as “poor management”. 

BlizzCon 2023 was the first in-person BlizzCon to run since 2019, and general admission tickets cost fans $299 — up from the $229 ticket price back in 2019. Additionally, ‘Portal Pass’ tickets were sold for $799 (up from $550 in 2019) which offered attendees access to an exclusive lounge (promising private concessions, gaming experiences, employee meet and greets and more), as well as a separate security and registration line and early entry to the lounge on Friday and Saturday. 

On Reddit, one attendee called the event a “total disaster”, noting that they’ve attended every year that it’s been running, but this year was “total garbage” with “nothing to do”. They wrote: “I'm very disappointed. Always brought my kids. Never again — I'm out.”

Meanwhile, many have been complaining about the massive lines to get into the convention center — TRG staff at the event also observed long queues. Another Reddit user described the experience as an “absolute nightmare”, and alleged that “the line was blocks down [the] 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.”

Another user also claimed that they had to queue “all the way into a