Following recent rumours that E3 2020 could be cancelled due to the worsening coronavirus situation, the ESA has today announced the official cancellation of the event. Several major publishers have already released statements supporting the decision, with some already announcing their intention to hold online events themselves. Furthermore, the ESA will reportedly look into arranging some form of online event to replace this year’s trade show.
E3 2020 is Officially Cancelled
“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,” writes the Entertainment Software Association, the organisation which runs the E3 trade show; “we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.”
While this is an impactful decision for the industry, and could have significant long-term ramifications, it’s not a surprising one. E3 is not the first major event to announce its cancellation in the last few weeks. With the coronavirus pandemic worsening day by day, persisting with the event would have been a decision of colossal negligence. As things stand, the ESA had no real choice but to cancel E3 2020. However, while the physical trade show will not be taking place, the ESA has announced that they will be looking to; “coordinate an online experience to showcase industry announcements and news in June 2020.”
It’s currently unknown what form that will take. However, both Microsoft and Ubisoft have already announced plans to hold their own online events. This could prove to be an existential problem for E3. After all, the event has already seen companies like Sony drop out in recent years. It’s possible that this 2020 cancellation could give publishers a chance to compare how well their own online events perform; if they perform well, then it’s entirely possible that many publishers could opt to continue with that format going forward. As such, E3 2021 could wind up being a much smaller affair than previous years.