What this means for Botcon remains unclear. I think its defunct but not entirely sure. Since this convention is a celebration of all things Hasbro, that means Transformers fans will not get the TF exclusive experience they are use too but conventions have long been able to multitask fandom so not seeing an issue there. There is no mention of a preview day that Botcon had so something to be aware of in planning. Third party Transformers will be forbidden, but then they were not allowed at Botcon either for its last few years.
The location of the convention is no coincidence as its very near Hasbro HQ in Pawtucket, Rhode Island so I wouldn't be surprised if the convention (assuming Hasbro deems it profitable), will be held at the same location each year. It should be interesting as to hear how it works out since anything placed under a corporate umbrella inevitable brings an increased level of oversight and complexity to it but the sheer volume of fandom (besides Transformers) that Hasbro touches is large so the potential any age entertainment value could be immense.
In addition Hasbro announced a new Transformers Fan Club for 2017. The current one was licensed out to the same company that ran Botcon with that license ending at the end of the year. No details on what the new fan club will offer but if head over to Transformers.com you can join the mailing list and get a 20% off coupon for the Hasbro Toy Shop.
Below is the press release for HasCon and click here for the official website.
