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Update: It’s official, E3 2020 has now been cancelled due to the coronavirus, as a statement comes in from ESA themselves on the E3 expo website.
“After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry – our fans, our employees, our exhibitors, and our longtime E3 partners – we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.”
“Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today.”
Full refunds will be provided to all exhibitors and attendees at least and, as guessed, they will be looking to coordinate an online version of the convention where members will still be able to make their big video game announcements and reveals during their originally scheduled time.
“We thank everyone who shared their views on reimagining E3 this year. We look forward to bringing you E3 2021 as a reimagined event that brings fans, media, and the industry together in a showcase that celebrates the global video game industry.”
Original story (March 11th 2020 at 15:08):
Growing concerns of the coronavirus have made several of this year’s biggest gaming conventions either delayed or cancelled. But there was one shining beacon that stood its ground no matter the concerns, E3 2020. After the increasing worries over other events being cancelled or being delayed, the ESA announced that E3 2020 will still be going ahead. That is, until now it seems.
Multiple rumours have surfaced that this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo will indeed be cancelled (what a surprise) after the city of Los Angeles declared an emergency over the coronavirus. Apparently, an official announcement was supposed to be made yesterday (Tuesday) but was then pushed back to today (Wednesday), when the ESA will make an official statement at 9:30am Pacific Time.
Whilst there hasn’t been an official confirmation of this by ESA themselves, if it were the case then they would have talked to the developers attending first, and it seems like Devolver Digital decided to spill the beans before anyone else. The slightly cryptic message suggests that attendees should “cancel your E3 flights and hotels, y’all”, we’re onto you Devolver…
It’s unclear at this moment how this will affect announcements at the convention; whether E3 2020 will go completely digital and streamed online, or if companies will organise their own schedules for announcements. We discussed yesterday already how certain companies might approach this cancellation in terms of their announcements of new games, like Warner Bros’ new Batman and Harry Potter games.
E3 has been running every year since 1995, and 2020 will make the first time it has ever been cancelled.
What do you think of the news? Is E3 definitely cancelled? Will they instead go digital? Is there any reason for games companies to make announcements about their new and upcoming games on stage anymore? Let us know your thoughts!
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