After reports yesterday that E3 would be cancelled today, the ESA has announced that the event will officially not take place in Los Angeles in June of this year.
Due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the association had no other choice than to cancel the yearly event in which tens of thousands of people gather from across the world in a Downtown Convention Centre. The ESA will now seek to put together a digital event, where publishers would presumably host press conferences and demo their games in an online fashion (this means that the experience wouldn’t change too much for those watching at home).
The full statement is below:
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.
Our team will be reaching out directly to exhibitors and attendees with information about providing full refunds.
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.
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.
Whilst E3 was definitely set to have a weird year this year, it’s super sad for the entire industry, especially after GDC was cancelled earlier this month.
