TwitchCon is a convention that occurs twice a year, once in North America and once in Europe for the live streamingvideo platform, Twitch. The convention is organized by Twitch and its main focus is centered around the culture of video game streaming and Video gaming in general. For streamers and content creators, it gives them an opportunity to seek improvements for their streams and grow their brand. It also provides fans with a unique chance to meet streamers, discover new products, play new games, and meet with online communitiesin real life. The first convention was held in 2015. Before 2019, they were all held at various convention centers in California until the first TwitchCon Europe in 2019, which took place in Berlin. The most recent convention was held on September 27–29, 2019 at the San Diego Convention Center. TwitchCon is hosted twice a year, once in North America, as a three-day-long event, and once in Europe, as a two-day-long event.
Events by year
North America
2015
The inaugural TwitchCon was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from September 25–26, 2015. It featured a keynote by CEO Emmett Shear, as well as an after party featuring Finnish electronic musicianDarude. All of the convention's panels were streamed live on Twitch. At least 20,000 attended the inaugural event.
2016
On February 18, 2016, Twitch announced that TwitchCon 2016 will expand to a three-day event from September 30 – October 2, 2016 and would move venue to the San Diego Convention Center. 35,000 people attended that year's event, including celebrities Shaquille O'Neal and Snoop Dogg. Over 2.2 million people tuned in online through the 3-day long event, while over 160,000 tweets were sent out across Twitter about TwitchCon. Darude returned to TwitchCon to headline their official party, which took place at Petco Park. The premier sponsors this year were Xbox, Truth, and Amazon Game Studios.
2017
TwitchCon 2017 was held at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center from October 20–22, 2017. 50,000 people attended that year's event. The premier sponsors this year included Netmarble, Cygames, Icons Combat Arena, and Razer Esports made its appearance at the TwitchCon Esports Stage involving competitive tournaments such as the H1Z1 Arena, Lineage 2: Revolution 30 vs 30 Fortress Siege Showcase, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars Showdown, and others. Popular publishers, like Blizzard and Ubisoft, allowed attendees to try out their latest games.
2018
TwitchCon 2018 was held at the San Jose Convention Center from October 26–28, 2018 in San Jose. 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. Tournaments were held featuring games such as Fortnite, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and . The cosplay contest returned to TwitchCon, with the winning prize of $15,000 going to Casey Renee. 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. The sponsors for Twitchcon 2018 North America included Kakao Games, Legion by Lenovo, Level up TwitchCon with Twitch Prime, and Intel Streamer Zone. The TwitchCon pre-party for 2018 was held at Pure Nightclub and featured Ninja as well as recording artist Dillon Francis.
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. The party was held at Petco Park on Saturday September 28. It 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. Upwards of 28,000 people attended TwitchCon San Diego 2019, and 10,000 attended the party at Petco Park.
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. On June 18, 2020, it was announced that TwitchCon San Diego 2020 had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sponsors were not announced due to the event being cancelled.
Europe
2019
The inaugural TwitchCon Europe took place at CityCube Berlin in Germany on April 13–14, 2019. 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. Attendees had to be over the age of 18 to enter TwitchCon Berlin.
2020 (cancelled)
TwitchCon Amsterdam was scheduled to take place at RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre in Amsterdam from May 2–3, 2020. Attendees would have had to be over age 16 to attend TwitchCon Amsterdam. On March 6, 2020, it was announced that TwitchCon Amsterdam 2020 had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sponsors were not announced due to the event being cancelled.
