Are you one of those hardcore gaming fans who wait for an entire year just to sit in front of their screens, with a bowl of popcorn in hand, watching all things gaming at the biggest event of the year, the E3? Well, we have some bad news for you.
E3 has become the latest to join the long (and ever-increasing) list of events canceled pan-industry as the countries look to arrest the spread of the coronavirus. The Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the annual gaming spectacle, has announced the cancellation.
Hotline Miami publisher Devolver Digital posted on Twitter last night in what seems like a confirmation of the reports- “Cancel your E3 flights and hotels, y’all.”
The news follows a string of game and tech event cancellations including the Game Developers Conference, Facebook’s F8, Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference, and Google’s I/O Conference, among several others. Los Angeles, where the E3 was set to take place, had declared a state of emergency last week as the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow across the US. Many tech companies have also instructed the employees to work from home, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft.
Although the E3 being canceled is a real shame, one can argue that the event has already lost its sheen over the years. Several major players have abandoned the event over the last few years. Activision-Blizzard has had an on-off attendance at the event, EA had also permanently ditched the event in 2016, starting one of its own, the EA play.
Most notable is Sony, manufacturer of the most-selling gaming consoles in the world, which was skipping the event for the second year running. Microsoft will also be scrambling to redraw its marketing plans as it was set to launch its upcoming console, the Xbox Series X, at the event.
