In a nutshell
- TwitchCon is an IRL convention hosted by Twitch where streamers meet with their communities and Twitch showcases new features and tools
- Twitch hosts two TwitchCons every year — one based in Northern California and Europe
- Aside from panels, TwitchCon features esport tournaments, music performances and art booths
Today, there are many conventions people enjoy going to. For instance, there are tons of conventions worldwide where people can cosplay, meet their on-screen celebrity heroes, watch major movie announcements or meet like-minded people. There’s a convention for nearly every hobby, so it’s only natural for there to be one for video gaming and livestreaming. That’s exactly what TwitchCon is.
TwitchCon – a live event for livestreamers
Since its inception back in 2015, TwitchCon has not only been a place for Twitch to showcase new features and allow game developers to tease new upcoming releases but it’s also been a place for the community of Twitch to come together. It gives fans and streamers the chance to connect in person.
At a typical TwitchCon, you can expect to see a lot of livestreamers meeting with their communities. However, that’s not all you’ll find there. There are also concerts, booths, product announcements, classes, video game tournaments and lots more Twitch features every year.
TwitchCon’s history
The first TwitchCon was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from September 25 to 26 in 2015. All of its panels were livestreamed to Twitch, allowing people to attend even if they weren’t physically there. The convention pulled in decent numbers, with 20,000 people attending. The following year, Twitch moved the convention to San Diego and added an extra day to the event, taking it from a two-day event to a three-day event. At this point, TwitchCon was gaining traction, almost doubling its attendance number and earning Xbox, Truth and Amazon Game Studios as sponsors.
TwitchCon’s most successful year, in terms of attendance, was 2017’s convention. This convention held its first esports tournaments, getting 35,000 in-person attendees and 2.2 million viewers on Twitch. TwitchCon expanded to Europe in the following years, debuting in Berlin, Germany, in 2019. Despite its expansion, Twitch saw a drop in attendees in 2018 and 2019.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Twitch had to both of its 2020’s conventions and skip 2021 altogether. However, this year, Twitch is bringing back TwitchCon to North America and Europe.
Fun to be had
TwitchCon every year is booming with fun events and lots of creative, artistic people. Twitch likes to curate its content from its community for the convention. There are Music and Performance categories, Artist Alley for art and artwork booths, content/community panels and Classes and the ever-popular cosplay contest. Most of the submissions are given booths and opportunities to network.
To qualify for the submissions, you must have a twitch account and some content on the site to submit your art or music content. The submissions are typically due at the beginning of the year. So, if you plan to be featured or want to submit your work, be sure to prep early.
Where is TwithCon held?
Typically, Twitch holds two conventions annually — one in North American and one in Europe. While Twitch usually holds the North American convention in California, the European convention likes to hop around. After a small hiatus in 2020 and 2021 for COVID-related reasons, TwitchCon is back this year. Twitch will host the convention in San Diego, California and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Getting in
TwitchCon tickets are available to the general public, which means anyone can go and have a great time. Twitch generally expects to see between 25,000-50,000 people show up for the three-day event. However, those figures can vary widely. For this year, there very may well be a huge surge in attendance since this is the first TwitchCon in two years. However, it’s also possible we see an average to below-average number, with COVID-19 still being a factor. Also, it’s hard to gauge people’s interest in TwitchCon, especially after a two-year hiatus. Before the pandemic, the North American TwitchCon was experiencing a notable decline in attendance, dropping from 50,000 attendees in 2017 to 28,000 attendees in 2019. We will just have to wait to see if the Twitch community is still up for TwitchCon.
At the forefront of the scene
Twitch figures to be at the forefront of video game streaming and integration. TwitchCon is a live event designed to showcase new features, highlight big-name livestreamers and host engaging events. With two events yearly in America and Europe, TwitchCon figures to be a prominent event in the world of Twitch. It gives communities the chance to interact with their favorite streamers in person and allows streamers to build an even stronger community. TwitchCon also lets Twitch introduce its latest tools to its creators and viewers, as well as highlight the latest software, games, tournaments and culture.