After weeks of rumors and wonderings, it looks as if E3 2020 is going to get cancelled after all. Across the world a number of high-profile events and conventions have been cancelled recently due to the COVID-19 strand of coronavirus which is currently spreading at an alarming rate across the globe. Health officials have been adamant about asking people to wash their hands thoroughly and avoid touching their face whenever possible
Recently, SXSW was cancelled due to fears over the coronavirus spreading and even smaller venues and organizations, like the Emerald City Comic Con, have decided it's better to close their doors than allow such large numbers of people to come into contact with each other and potentially share the virus. Now, it appears as if the year's biggest video game event will be adopting a very similar position.
According to Twitter messages from both Devolver Digital and Kotaku's Jason Schreier, multiple developers and industry professionally have "been hearing secondhand whispers" about the cancellation of E3. Schreier goes on to state that he's heard from "a couple of people in positions to know that the ESA hasn't officially made a decision yet." Developer Devolver Digital's tweet was much more blunt, simply stating, "Cancel your E3 flights and hotels, y'all." Check out the posts from journalists below, including one which states an official announcement should be coming tomorrow:
More and more developers seem to be spreading the news as time goes on, with God of War director Cory Balrog retweeting Devolver Digital's message likely in order to allow as many people the chance to get their travel purchases refunded as soon as possible. Much like with the coronavirus' cancellation of GDC 2020, it's likely that multiple steps will have to be taken quickly by a number of big and small-time developers in order to not lose large amounts of money on flight and hotel purchases.
Until an official statement comes from the ESA, no one can say for sure, but it sure looks as if the video game world is bracing for a year with no E3. After the massive controversy at E3 2019, where hundreds of game developers and journalists had their personal information taken, some people in the industry are surely happy to see the annual event take a year off for once. The event has felt less relevant in recent years, especially as more and more big name developers like Nintendo and Sony have dropped their support of E3 in favor of their own personal showcases. If E3 2020 is indeed cancelled, it could mean the beginning of a new, E3-less future.
Source: Twitter