San Diego Comic-Con Officially Sets Free Virtual Edition With Comic-Con@Home

This year, San Diego Comic-Con will look a little different — because it will all take place online and it will be FREE to the masses! Yes, you heard that right, for the first time in the history of the pop culture confab, Comic-Con will take place virtually at no cost. Appropriately titled Comic-Con@Home, the confab will kick off on the same dates as the previously canceled Comic-Con, July 22-26.

Shortly after it was announced that Comic-Con was canceled due to the pandemic, they teased an at-home edition. They recently released some details about the virtual edition that “hopes to deliver the best of the Comic-Con experience and a sense of its community to anyone with an internet connection and an interest in all aspects of pop culture.”

Plans for Comic-Con@Home include an online Exhibit Hall complete with everyone’s favorite exhibitors offering promotions, specials, and limited-edition products unique to the celebration. And like the in-person event, Comic-Con@Home promises exclusive panels and presentations about comics, gaming, television, film, and a wide variety of topics from publishers, studios, and more. They will also have a Masquerade as well as other activities in which fans can participate from their own homes.

If you miss having a lanyard with a badge around your neck, those will be available for attendees to print — but it is all free. No more camping out to wait in line for Hall H, no more dodging drunk cosplayers in the Gaslamp District — at least for this year’s ceremony. Comic-Con will be open to everyone and there will be no limits to how many can attend.

“For the first time in our 50-year history, we are happy to welcome virtually anyone from around the globe,” said SDCC spokesperson David Glanzer. “Though stay-at-home conditions makes this a very difficult time, we see this as an opportunity to spread some joy and strengthen our sense of community.”