Despite all hopes, E3 has finally canceled its 2020 event in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The ESA confirmed the information earlier today that the anticipated press conference won't be going ahead as planned.
The recent news confirms all previous rumors from Ars Technica and Bloomberg that were shared yesterday. E3 is a popular event, one that lasts almost a week and attracts a large crowd from across the world. Therefore, the health risk is obviously going to be even greater with so many international attendees.
The E3 team is devastated to share this news. This decision was not reached lightly, but it is the right one for the health and safety of all involved. Read our statement here: https://t.co/1uOWxTerN9 pic.twitter.com/gD2IxNACLX
— E3 (@E3) March 11, 2020
"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," the ESA said in an official email sent to Player.One. "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."
The team mentioned they will be reaching out to those who planned on attending to discuss refunds. E3 may still live on, albeit not in a physical way. It is possible there may be some official events that will be streamed online. "We are also exploring options with our members to coordinate an online experience to showcase industry announcements and news in June 2020. Updates will be shared on E3expo.com," the email stated.
This decision made by the ESA isn't surprising as many other tech and video game conferences have been canceled, delayed, or scheduled to happen online only. Some of these popular events include Mobile World Congress (MWC), Game Developers Conference (GDC), Google I/O, Facebook's F8 Conference, SXSW, and many more.
With the physical event canceled, E3 is exploring opportunities to offer an online experience. However, even if that fails to happen, we aren't sure what E3 will plan going ahead. Fans were expecting to hear anticipated announcements from popular publishers like Bethesda, EA, and Ubisoft for the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Sony had already pulled away from the event and Microsoft is going to talk about the new Xbox and Project xCloud sometime next week.
