TwitchCon
TwitchCon is a convention for the livestreaming video platform Twitch. The convention is organized by Twitch and focuses around the general culture of video game streaming and video gaming, as an opportunity for streamers and content creators to improve their streams and to grow their brand.[1] At TwitchCon, fans can meet streamers and members of internet communities in person, discover new products, and play new games.[1] The first convention was held in 2015, in San Francisco. In 2019, the first European convention was held in Berlin. The most recent convention was held in 2019, in San Diego. TwitchCon is hosted twice a year, once in North America for three days and once in Europe for two days.[2] All North American conventions have been held in California, while the European conventions cycle between countries.
| TwitchCon | |
|---|---|
![]() | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Livestreaming, video games |
| Location(s) | North America, Europe |
| Inaugurated | September 25, 2015 (San Francisco, 2015) |
| Most recent | September 27, 2019 (San Diego, 2019) |
| Attendance | 28,000 (San Diego, 2019) |
| Organized by | Twitch Interactive |
| Website | www |
Events by year
2015
The inaugural TwitchCon was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on September 25 and 26, 2015. It featured a keynote by Twitch CEO Emmett Shear and an after party with Finnish electronic musician Darude and Canadian electronic musician deadmau5. All of the convention's panels were livestreamed on Twitch.[3] 20,000 people attended the inaugural event.[4]
2016

TwitchCon 2016 expanded to a three-day event from September 30 to October 2, and moved to the San Diego Convention Center.[4] 35,000 people attended that year's event, including celebrities Shaquille O'Neal and Snoop Dogg.[5] 2.2 million people watched online throughout the three days, while 160,000 tweets were posted on Twitter about TwitchCon.[6] Darude returned to TwitchCon to headline the official party at Petco Park.[7] The premier sponsors this year were Xbox, Truth, and Amazon Game Studios.[5]
2017
TwitchCon 2017 was held at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center from October 20 to 22.[8] 50,000 people attended that year's event.[9] The year's sponsors included Netmarble, Cygames, Icons Combat Arena, and Razer.[10] The TwitchCon Esports Stage held tournaments for games such as the H1Z1 Arena, Lineage 2: Revolution 30 vs 30 Fortress Siege Showcase, and Power Rangers: Legacy Wars Showdown.[11] Popular video game publishers like Blizzard and Ubisoft allowed attendees to trial their latest games. An afterparty took place on October 21, on the RMS Queen Mary.[12]
2018
TwitchCon 2018 was held at the San Jose Convention Center from October 26–28, 2018 in San Jose.[13] 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.[14] Tournaments were held featuring games such as Fortnite, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.[14] The cosplay contest returned to TwitchCon, with the winning prize of $15,000 going to Casey Renee.[14] In 2018, TwitchCon introduced a new speaker series that featured Tony Hawk, Kevin Smith, Felicia Day, Emmett Shear and Ninja, who all shared their personal experiences and stories with the attendees.[15] The sponsors for Twitchcon 2018 North America included Kakao Games, Legion by Lenovo, Level up TwitchCon with Twitch Prime, and Intel Streamer Zone.[16] The TwitchCon pre-party for 2018 was held at Pure Nightclub and featured Ninja as well as recording artist Dillon Francis.[17] The competitive Fortnite event known as the "Fall Skirmish" final which was the second major LAN event in competitive Fortnite.[18][19]
2019

TwitchCon San Diego 2019 took place from September 27–29, 2019 at the San Diego Convention Center. TwitchCon 2019 was the debut of the new Twitch logo, Twitchcon logo, and brand design. This was the second time the event has been held in San Diego, with the first being held in 2016.[20][21] The party was held at Petco Park on Saturday, September 28 and featured artists such as Blink-182. The sponsors for the 2019 event were Twitch Prime, Wormhole, and Honda. Its main events featured an opening ceremony, Twitch Rivals competitions, Meet & Greets with popular streamers, a party at Petco Park, a cosplay contest hosted by Adam Savage, and a painting class taught by a Bob Ross-certified instructor.[22] Upwards of 28,000 people attended TwitchCon San Diego 2019, and 10,000 attended the party at Petco Park.[23]
2020 (cancelled)
TwitchCon San Diego 2020 was scheduled to take place at the San Diego Convention Center from September 25 to 27, 2020. If the event wasn't cancelled, it would have been the third time overall and the second time in succession that TwitchCon would be held in San Diego.[2] On June 18, 2020, TwitchCon San Diego 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[24]
2022
After a two year hiatus, TwitchCon San Diego 2022 is scheduled to take place at the San Diego Convention Center in October 2022.[25]
2019
The inaugural TwitchCon Europe took place at CityCube Berlin in Germany on April 13–14, 2019.[26] This was the first time that TwitchCon headed overseas. The premier sponsors this year included LevlUp, Gillette, Intel and Twitch Prime. American actor, singer, producer, and businessman David Hasselhoff appeared as a motivational speaker at the event.[27] Attendees had to be over the age of 18 to enter TwitchCon Berlin.[28]
2020 (cancelled)
TwitchCon Amsterdam was scheduled to take place at RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre in Amsterdam from May 2–3, 2020.[2] Attendees would have had to be over age 16[29] to attend TwitchCon Amsterdam. On March 6, 2020, TwitchCon Amsterdam 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[30] The sponsors were not announced due to the event being cancelled.
2022
TwitchCon Amsterdam is scheduled to take place in July 2022 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre.[31]
2020
On November 14, 2020, in lieu of TwitchCon, Twitch held a 12-hour virtual convention titled "GlitchCon."[32] Over 425 streamers participated in the event.[33] 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.[34].The sponsors for GlitchCon were Verizon and Adobe.[35]
See also
References
- "What is TwitchCon? FAQs". TwitchCon 2018.
- Hawkins, Josh (September 27, 2019). "Twitch announces TwitchCon 2020 dates and locations". Shacknews. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "TwitchCon 2015: What it is, and what to watch". Polygon. September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- Sarkar, Samit (February 18, 2016). "TwitchCon 2016 announced, coming to San Diego this September". Polygon. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- Freitas, Evan (October 12, 2016). "That's a wrap on TwitchCon 2016!". Twitch. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
- Freitas, Evan (October 12, 2016). "That's a wrap TwitchCon 2016!". Twitch.
- Freitas, Evan (July 12, 2016). "TwitchCon 2016 update: Party, panels, and more". Twitch.
- Sarkar, Samit (January 10, 2017). "TwitchCon 2017 announced for late October". Polygon. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
- Grady, Angel (October 23, 2017). "Twitch Welcomed Gamers at TwitchCon 2017". OC Weekly. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
- "TwitchCon 2017 Sponsors".
- Albert, Brian. "Announcing TwitchCon 2017's exhibitors, sponsors, and activities". Retrieved September 14, 2017.
- "This TwitchCon, things are going to get a little dark". Twitch Blog. July 12, 2017.
- Lumb, David (February 28, 2018). "TwitchCon returns to the Bay Area on October 26th". Engadget. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- Arguello, Diego (October 30, 2018). "Everything that happened at TwitchCon 2018". Digital Trends.
- "Twitch Talks: Stories from Tony Hawk, Kevin Smith and Felicia Day". TwitchCon 2018.
- "Just announced: TwitchCon 2018 sponsors, exhibitors, and esports events". TwitchCon 2018.
- "TwitchCon pre-party with Ninja x Dillon Francis 10.25.18". Pure Nightclub.
- "twitchcon 2018". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
- "Epic Games' Fortnite". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
- Vincent, Brittany (February 20, 2019). "TwitchCon 2019 Returns To San Diego Convention Center With Fifth Annual Event". Variety. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
- Garrett, Eric. "Twitch Reveals First Details for TwitchCon 2019". comicbook/wwg. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
- Church, Alec (October 4, 2019). "TwitchCon's Triumphant Return to the San Diego Convention Center". San Diego Convention Center. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
- "Sponsor or Exhibit at TwitchCon". TwitchCon. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- GlitchCon [@TwitchCon] (June 18, 2020). "An update on TwitchCon San Diego and what comes next" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- Garske, Monica (September 22, 2021). "This Is Happening, IRL: 'TwitchCon' 2022 Is Returning to San Diego". NBC 7 San Diego.
- Crecente, Brian (November 21, 2018). "TwitchCon Expands to Europe in 2019". Variety. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- "Twitch Talks are back for TwitchCon Europe. These are your next speakers". Twitch. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
- "TwitchCon Berlin tickets". TwitchCon. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- "TwitchCon Amsterdam". TwitchCon Amsterdam. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
- "TwitchCon Amsterdam cancelled due to Coronavirus concerns". Dexerto.com. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- Holt, Kris (September 22, 2021). "In-person TwitchCon events will return in 2022". Engadget.
- Stephan, Bijan (November 2, 2020). "Twitch announces a virtual TwitchCon next week". The Verge. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- Zheng, Jenny. "Twitch To Hold Virtual Event Called GlitchCon". GameSpot. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- Weiss, Geoff (November 9, 2020). "Twitch Unveils Full Rundown For Saturday's 'GlitchCon' — Its Virtual Reimagining Of TwitchCon". TubeFilter. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- "GlitchCon". Twitch Blog. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
