TwitchCon Returns to San Diego, Announces 5-Year Residency

For many in attendance at TwitchCon’s opening ceremony on Friday, the news that TwitchCon would remain in San Diego for the next five years was greeted with cheers and applause.

Last year, the streaming platform’s convention was held in Las Vegas, but San Diego was its preferred location. This year is the fourth time the city has hosted the convention; the last time was in 2022.

“We love San Diego. We’re excited to be here,” said Twitch Community Manager Mary Kish.

Twitch hosts two conventions each year, one in North America and one in Europe. She says San Diego’s innovative atmosphere is ideal for Twitch.

“San Diego is important to us because it’s also a very tech-forward city,” Kish said. “Twitch is on the cutting edge of technology, and we’re also cultural changemakers. When something is popular on Twitch, you can see it all over the world. And I think that really reflects the space that we want to be in.”

Tommy Ryan, a Carlsbad resident who attended with his son Oliver, agreed. He said that unlike Comic-Con International in San Diego, TwitchCon isn’t just about pop culture. There’s also a tech community here.

He follows some coder streamers, and as a software writer, he said it could expose his son to a potential career path.

“I pulled him out of school today so he could experience it,” Ryan said. “It could be a potential career opportunity. It takes a lot of work, but this conference is proof that you can make a living with this software.”

Twitch is a streaming platform owned by Amazon. It streams everything from art classes to gaming to politics. Since there is no algorithm to beat, it has become a popular platform for content creators looking to build a community, like Casper J.

He has built a community of over 60,000 followers. He loves streaming because he can take his audience with him wherever he goes.

He was in the middle of interacting with his community when he spoke to KPBS.

“What really excites me is not just these booths or anything, but also meeting old friends that I’ve never met and talked to for years and years,” Casper J. said. “And also connecting with new friends.”

This was his first time at TwitchCon, but he enjoys the atmosphere here in San Diego. He thinks it’s great that the convention is coming to San Diego until 2029.

“I think San Diego is a fun city to drive through for a lot of people who come here,” Casper J. said. “I heard a lot of bad things about Las Vegas last year: the traffic was bad, it was hard to get around pedestrians.”