E3 2020 officially canceled – publishers to plan online events
The Entertainment Software Association announced yesterday that it will cancel the E3 2020 video game expo due to concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 Coronavirus.
In the wake of the cancelation of industry events like the Game Developers Conference and Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference, rumors of this cancelation were already circulating. E3 is normally held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where game publishers would gather to show off their upcoming games.
Recent years had seen some bigger developers begin to recede from the show. Microsoft has started holding its own simultaneous event at its Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, while Electronic Arts has held an EA Play event elsewhere in the city. Sony skipped last year's show and had planned to skip this year's as well. With the show called off, publishers are planning and considering holding their own digital events.
Microsoft said in an official statement that E3 "has always been an important moment for Team Xbox. Given this decision, this year we'll celebrate the next generation of gaming with the Xbox community" via an Xbox digital event." Details on this event are forthcoming, the company says.
Nintendo shifted from in-person shows to an online "Nintendo Direct" conference some years back, though the company continued to have a significant presence at the E3 show itself, and has released a message in support of the ESA's decision.
Batman, Harry Potter, Rocksteady
Other publishers like Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, and Devolver Digital are looking into digital event options as well. According to Kotaku, Warner Bros. Interactive was planning to host an E3 press conference for the first time. The company allegedly had plans to talk about the next Batman game, a previously-leaked Harry Potter game, and the next game from Batman Arkham studio Rocksteady. At the time of this writing, Warner Bros. Interactive has not yet released a statement on the matter.
The ESA's decision to cancel E3 2020 makes sense in light of the concerns around Covid-19. But it also calls into question the future of the event itself. Not only have publishers increasingly pulled away from the event in favor of hosting their own, the organization leaked attendee information through negligence. Event organizers Geoff Keighley and iam8bit had also previously pulled out of the event. Now, publishers will be forced by circumstance to see what the industry looks like without E3 buttoning down the lull between spring and fall. In other words, the video game industry could look very different a year from now.
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