TwitchCon Decides To Give A Shit That The Pandemic Is Still Happening

Update 08/12/2022 1:55 p.m. ET: A new blog post from Twitch states that TwitchCon San Diego attendees will now be required to wear masks indoors. The blog post also notes that all attendees must provide proof of vaccination or a negative covid test taken within 72 hours of the event. Original article continues below:

TwitchCon will be taking place in San Diego between October 7-9, and if you had any thoughts about attending whatsoever, know that the organisers are under the assumption that we’re living in 2019, not 2022, and that you’re very much going to be taking your personal safety into your own hands.

In a section called “Health Measures” on the show’s website (spotted by Zach Bussey), organisers say that “TwitchCon San Diego will be presented in accordance with applicable public health and safety guidelines as of the date of the event,” which means that “the health and safety measures for our event may change at any time as determined by federal or local government agencies, the venue and/or Twitch.”

As it stands at time of publishing, however, those measures are almost non-existent. Attendees won’t have to be vaccinated, won’t need to show test results, and won’t even need to wear a mask:

We’re constantly reviewing our health and safety guidelines along with local authorities. In accordance with current local guidelines, there will be no COVID-19 vaccination or testing requirements at TwitchCon San Diego. Although masks are encouraged, they are not currently required to attend TwitchCon. Please ensure you are comfortable with our current health and safety measures before you purchase your ticket to TwitchCon.

This pandemic is not over! California is recording 50,000 new cases a day (as of this week), and the recently-held Comic-Con showed these big events are still helping spread Covid, with even star panellists like George R.R. Martin coming away from the show testing positive. With vaccinations at the level they are, and people just generally wanting to be over the pandemic, you could understand some lessening of restrictions, if only so the show could take place at all. But to abandon all of them? That’s extremely shitty.

Especially when TwitchCon’s line is that, “Well San Diego doesn’t have rules so we won’t either,” when Comic-Con—a much bigger event—was only just held at the same venue in the same city, and its organisers mandated not only the wearing of masks, but also proof of vaccination (or a recent negative test).

When Twitch say that “the health and safety measures for our event may change at any time,” let’s hope that time is very soon (there’s already a submission on Twitch to at least make masks mandatory), otherwise attending sure sounds like a risky idea.