ANAHEIM, Calif. — More than 26,000 people from 50 states and 49 countries arrived here last week for BlizzCon, the annual self-celebration by Blizzard Entertainment, perhaps the most revered video game company in the world.

But the most important moment, the one that illuminated the passion that weaves Internet gamers into global communities that often make the leap from pixels to reality, did not come in the vast, thronged convention hall. It was not when Blizzard announced the next expansion for its signature product, World of Warcraft. It was not when thousands of spectators perched in rapt attention as the top two players of StarCraft II, Blizzard’s science-fiction strategy game, battled for $50,000 as winner of the convention tournament. And it was not the costume and dance contests hosted by the comedian Jay Mohr or the closing concert by the Foo Fighters.

Rather, the moment arrived after the official event had ended on Saturday night. In the atrium lobby of a hotel next door, at least 1,000 fans milled about in a scene that evoked the last night of camp, when no one wants to say goodbye and go home.

Image Alexis Worth as a Draenei hunter and her dog, Poppy, at BlizzCon 2011. Credit... Stephanie Diani for The New York Times

It wasn’t just the fans who were practically floating around the lobby. Here was Mike Morhaime, the company’s chief executive and co-founder, posing for pictures with a young woman dressed, a bit scantily, as a blood elf priest. Frank Pearce, another co-founder, plunged eagerly through the crowd. Other senior producers and designers wedged into the bar. This was not Broadway or Hollywood; there were no bodyguards or handlers hovering with clipboards and headsets. This was a party full of people who love video games and the friends they’ve made through them. It was difficult to tell which contingent was genuinely having a better time meeting the other: the executives or the fans.