Although the ESA stressed that it wasn’t concerned about the coronavirus earlier this month, it looks like those concerns have caught up to the company backing E3. As of today, the ESA has issued out a statement to the general public saying that E3 2020 will not kick-off on its intended date.
The coronavirus has many vendors and events worried, and it looks like the ESA is one of those “many” now.
Originally planned to go live on June 9th and end on June 11th, 2020, it looks like attendees won’t be going according to the following letter via e3expo.com:
“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.”
In case you didn’t read the above notice, the ESA is basically saying that the June 9th date isn’t going to happen, refunds will be issued out, and the event will be live-streamed sometime this June.
In addition to the above, Xbox boss, Phil Spencer, had this to say about the whole thing:
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 and all who love to play via an Xbox digital event. Details on timing and more in the coming weeks https://t.co/xckMKBPf9h
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) March 11, 2020
Ubisoft wants to continue showing its stuff off, but it won’t happen on the 9th of June. The company also expressed its concern regarding the whole situation and wants to explore other ways to unveil its new content:
An update regarding E3 2020. pic.twitter.com/cThkDIkfVm
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 11, 2020
Limited Run Games, the company that bent its knee to ResetEra, will host its own show on June 8th, 2020, via Twitch:
#E3Cancelled, but the show must go on!
Join us for #LRG3, our third totally-live, totally-bitchin press conference for the biggest announcements in the future of physical video games: June 8th at 3pm ET on https://t.co/vzY9JjjJzs. pic.twitter.com/HbfCN6w13W
— Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames) March 11, 2020
Devolver Digital will host its own show, too, much like Limited Run Games and the others, as noted below:
The week of E3 has always been a big part of what we do and are genuinely bummed about the cancelation of the event itself.
Lots to juggle but right now we plan on having a livestream Devolver Direct / press conference and possibly more. pic.twitter.com/nGDAEsIzUs
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) March 11, 2020
Lastly, the ESA wanted to bolster E3’s numbers by earning back your trust, but it looks like that won’t be happening unless the team comes back later in June via a live stream session— similar to what the folks at GDC want to do.
In the meantime, you can learn more about E3 2020 by visiting e3expo.com.
