TwitchCon
StatusActive
GenreLivestreaming, video games
Location(s)North America, Europe
InauguratedSeptember 25, 2015 (2015-09-25) (San Francisco, 2015)
Most recentOctober 20, 2023 (2023-10-20) (Las Vegas, 2023)
Next eventTBA
Attendance30,000 (San Diego, 2022), 14,500 (Amsterdam, 2022)
Organized byTwitch Interactive
SponsorsCapital One, @Gonna Need Milk, Intel, Lenovo Legion, Amazon Prime Video, Wendy's (San Diego 2022)
Websitewww.twitchcon.com

TwitchCon is a semi-annual gaming convention for the livestreaming video platform Twitch. The convention is organized by Twitch Interactive and focuses on the general culture of livestreaming and video gaming. TwitchCon also serves as an opportunity for streamers and content creators to improve their stream quality and grow their brand.[1] TwitchCon is open to industry professionals, streamers, and fans; the convention allows community members to meet streamers, discover new products, and trial new games.[1]

The first convention was held in 2015 in San Francisco. In 2019, the first European convention was held in Berlin. TwitchCon is normally hosted twice a year, once in North America for three days and once in Europe for two days.[2] All North American conventions were held in California until 2023, in which an event in Nevada took place. The European conventions cycle between countries.

History

2015

The inaugural TwitchCon was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on September 25 and 26, 2015. The event was organized by Twitch, and featured a keynote by Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. All of the convention's panels were livestreamed on Twitch.[3]

2016

In 2016, the convention was moved to the San Diego Convention Center and expanded to a three-day annual event. This TwitchCon introduced sponsors such as Xbox, Truth, and Amazon Game Studios.[4]

2017

In 2017, TwitchCon took place at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. This included the first esports tournaments to be held at TwitchCon included H1Z1 Arena, Lineage 2: Revolution 30 vs 30 Fortress Siege Showcase, and Power Rangers: Legacy Wars Showdown.[5]

2018

TwitchCon 2018 took place at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. The main presentation was held on the first day of the event by djWHEAT, director of Twitch studios, who made numerous statements about forthcoming features for the platform.[6] Twitch Speaks, a speaking series first presented at TwitchCon 2018, featured Tony Hawk, Kevin Smith, Felicia Day, Emmett Shear, and Ninja.[7] The Fall Skirmish final, a competitive Fortnite tournament final, was held at TwitchCon 2018, at the time making it the second largest Fortnite LAN event held.[8][9]

2019

The inaugural TwitchCon Europe took place at CityCube Berlin in Germany on April 13–14, 2019.[10] American actor, singer, producer, and businessman David Hasselhoff appeared as a motivational speaker at the event.[11] Attendees had to be over the age of 18 to enter TwitchCon Europe, Berlin.[12]

Emmett Shear at TwitchCon 2019 opening ceremony in San Diego

TwitchCon North America returned to San Diego, taking place from September 27–29, 2019. It introduced the debut of an updated Twitch logo, TwitchCon logo, and brand design. This was the second time the event had been held in San Diego, with the first being held in 2016. This was also the first time a TwitchCon event was held at a venue more than one time.[13][14]

2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TwitchCon North America, which was scheduled to occur at the San Diego Convention Center between September 25 and 27, 2020, as well as TwitchCon Europe, which was scheduled to occur at RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre in Amsterdam between May 2 and 3, 2020,[2] were cancelled.[15] On November 14, 2020, in lieu of TwitchCon, Twitch held a 12-hour virtual convention named "GlitchCon."[16] Over 425 streamers participated in the event.[17] Notable activities included Twitch Rivals tournaments for Fortnite and Fall Guys, the Austin Talent Show featuring judges T-Pain and Andy Milonakis, and a US$1 million donation being made to the AbleGamers foundation.[18]

Neither a GlitchCon or TwitchCon event occurred in 2021. The next event would be held in Amsterdam in 2022.

2022

After a two-year hiatus, TwitchCon Europe took place in July 2022 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre.[19]

TwitchCon North America took place at the San Diego Convention Center in October 2022.[20] This was the third time the event has been held in San Diego. The events required face coverings and had numerous COVID-19 prevention protocols in place.

The TwitchCon San Diego party was held at Petco Park, and featured the artists Meet Me at The Altar, Kim Petras, and Megan Thee Stallion. The party gained significant media attention when an attendee cosplaying as Master Chief from the Halo series of video games was allowed on stage during a performance with Megan Thee Stallion.[21]

The foam pit at TwitchCon San Diego 2022

However, many people were critical of the San Diego event. One of the more notable criticisms of the event was the lack of security protocols in place for exhibitors, resulting in overcrowded venues and reported stalking incidents. Legion by Lenovo and Intel hosted an interactive exhibit that involved attendees dueling in an arena using large padded instruments and landing in a pit of foam cubes. However, the arena was not padded properly, causing people to land on hard ground, resulting in various injuries.[22] Of the two injured, streamer Adriana Chechik reported that she had broken her back after landing, and had to undergo surgery to set the fracture with a rod implant.[23] Lenovo and Intel both remained silent on the matter. Chechik posted on social media that neither Intel, Lenovo, or Twitch had contacted her directly about the incident.[24]

At TwitchCon San Diego, Twitch did not announce a location for a potential TwitchCon North America event in 2023 during the closing ceremony, breaking years-old tradition.

2023

TwitchCon Europe took place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France, on July 8–9, 2023.[25]

TwitchCon North America took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center on October 20–22, 2023.[25] This was the first TwitchCon North America event outside of California.

Locations and dates

North America

No.DatesVenueCityAttendanceNotes
1September 25–26, 2015Moscone CenterSan Francisco, California[26]20,000[26]
2September 30 – October 2, 2016San Diego Convention CenterSan Diego, California35,000[4]
3October 20–22, 2017Long Beach Convention and Entertainment CenterLong Beach, California [27]50,000[28]
4October 26–28, 2018San Jose Convention CenterSan Jose, California [29]30,000[30]
5September 27–29, 2019San Diego Convention CenterSan Diego, California28,000[31]
6September 25–27, 2020[2]0Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
October 7–9, 2022~30,000[32]
7October 20–22, 2023Las Vegas Convention CenterWinchester, NevadaTBA

Europe

No.DatesVenueCityAttendanceNotes
1April 13–14, 2019[10]CityCube BerlinBerlin, Germany[10]9,500[33]
2May 2–3, 2020[2]RAI Amsterdam Convention CentreAmsterdam, The Netherlands[2]0Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
July 16–17, 202214,500[33]
3July 8–9, 2023Paris Expo Porte de VersaillesParis, FranceTBA

References

  1. 1 2 "What is TwitchCon? FAQs". TwitchCon 2018. Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hawkins, Josh (September 27, 2019). "Twitch announces TwitchCon 2020 dates and locations". Shacknews. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  3. ↑ "TwitchCon 2015: What it is, and what to watch". Polygon. September 24, 2015. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Freitas, Evan (October 12, 2016). "That's a wrap on TwitchCon 2016!". Twitch. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  5. ↑ Albert, Brian. "Announcing TwitchCon 2017's exhibitors, sponsors, and activities". Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  6. ↑ Arguello, Diego (October 30, 2018). "Everything that happened at TwitchCon 2018". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Twitch Talks: Stories from Tony Hawk, Kevin Smith and Felicia Day". TwitchCon 2018. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  8. ↑ "twitchcon 2018". Epic Games' Fortnite. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Epic Games' Fortnite". Epic Games' Fortnite. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 Crecente, Brian (November 21, 2018). "TwitchCon Expands to Europe in 2019". Variety. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Twitch Talks are back for TwitchCon Europe. These are your next speakers". Twitch. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  12. ↑ "TwitchCon Berlin tickets". TwitchCon. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  13. ↑ Vincent, Brittany (February 20, 2019). "TwitchCon 2019 Returns To San Diego Convention Center With Fifth Annual Event". Variety. Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  14. ↑ Garrett, Eric. "Twitch Reveals First Details for TwitchCon 2019". comicbook/wwg. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  15. ↑ GlitchCon [@TwitchCon] (June 18, 2020). "An update on TwitchCon San Diego and what comes next" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ↑ Stephan, Bijan (November 2, 2020). "Twitch announces a virtual TwitchCon next week". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  17. ↑ Zheng, Jenny. "Twitch To Hold Virtual Event Called GlitchCon". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  18. ↑ Weiss, Geoff (November 9, 2020). "Twitch Unveils Full Rundown For Saturday's 'GlitchCon' — Its Virtual Reimagining Of TwitchCon". TubeFilter. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  19. ↑ Holt, Kris (September 22, 2021). "In-person TwitchCon events will return in 2022". Engadget. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  20. ↑ Garske, Monica (September 22, 2021). "This Is Happening, IRL: 'TwitchCon' 2022 Is Returning to San Diego". NBC 7 San Diego. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Master Chief Dancing, 'Gettin Ass' With Megan Thee Stallion Is A Thing That Happened This Weekend". Kotaku. October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  22. ↑ Sung, Morgan (October 10, 2022). "TwitchCon had a foam pit exhibit. Two attendees say they got injured when they jumped in". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  23. ↑ "TwitchCon had a foam pit exhibit. Two attendees say they got injured when they jumped in". NBC News. October 10, 2022. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  24. ↑ Serrano, Jody (October 15, 2022). "Twitch Mum on TwitchCon Foam Pit Injuries, Pretends Everything's Fine". Gizmodo.
  25. 1 2 "TwitchCon 2023, hype intensifies!". Twitch Blog. February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  26. 1 2 Sarkar, Samit (February 18, 2016). "TwitchCon 2016 announced, coming to San Diego this September". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  27. ↑ Sarkar, Samit (January 10, 2017). "TwitchCon 2017 announced for late October". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 11, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  28. ↑ Grady, Angel (October 23, 2017). "Twitch Welcomed Gamers at TwitchCon 2017". OC Weekly. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  29. ↑ Lumb, David (February 28, 2018). "TwitchCon returns to the Bay Area on October 26th". Engadget. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  30. ↑ "TwitchCon 2018 Recap: 5 Biggest Takeaways For Marketers". Mediakix. November 7, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  31. ↑ "Sponsor or Exhibit at TwitchCon". TwitchCon. Archived from the original on March 16, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  32. ↑ Staff, B. G. N. (October 12, 2022). "Here Are The Highlights of What Happened at TwitchCon 2022". Black Girl Nerds. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  33. 1 2 Tsiaoussidis, Alex (July 26, 2022). "TwitchCon enjoys big return to Europe: Amsterdam event breaks attendance records". Dot eSports. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
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