Another one bites the dust: New York Comic Con has officially canceled their in-person convention in favor of a digital one.

Originally scheduled to run from October 8th through the 11th, New York Comic Con has been trying to hold on and stay optimistic about keeping their physical gathering a reality amid COVID closures.

The announcement came yesterday from Reedpop, the event planning company responsible for putting on this particular con, with an update stream from the NYCC’s Facebook page. This was to be New York Comic Con’s 15th year and another triumphant return to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. This decision is following San Diego Comic Con doing their own work from home version of the convention. Much like SDCC @ Home NYCC still has plenty of panels, product drops, and Q&A sessions lined up so there’s still plenty to look forward to.

Instead of crowding in to a convention center, Reedpop is taking everything to the digital world. New York Comic Con will now be partnering with MCM Comic Con London—MCM is the organizing group for European comic cons in the UK and Western Europe—and YouTube to create a massive online event called Metaverse.

A ton of cons have had to be canceled this year, and Reedpop, MCM, and a few other organizers are trying to right those wrongs with this Metaverse event. Metaverse will be something of an extra con, as fans will have access to all of their favorite con things—celebrities, merch, product releases, the faces of their favorite fandoms—and it will be taking place twice over the next few months. Reedpop’s Metaverse was originally planned for August 13th through 16th, they will now be adding additional dates to have it essentially take over for NYCC.

New York Comic Con will still be coming, just rebranded with a cooler name for an online atmosphere. Not being able to gather physically isn’t going to stop people from supporting their fandoms and favorite creators. Con season being canceled has hit the nerd community hard, but organizers like Reedpop are doing everything they can to keep things running.

Source: Facebook