In “old” new news, word has spread like wildfire that the biggest and most-anticipated video games conference of the year, E3, has been canceled due to the Coronovirus outbreak. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) posted an official announcement to its site yesterday (March 11th), which reads, in part:
Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt [canceling E3] 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.
Even though E3 has lost some its appeal over the years, it remained an event that we looked forward to talking about here at Virtual Bastion. It’s the convention that helped us push through the general summer drought of new games, and to varying degrees, it also served as a compass for our gaming voyages for the remainder of the year. Because honestly, as “played out” as some have called E3 in the past few years (yours truly included), there was always something, at least one thing, that offered up a little bit of gaming hope and an extra dash of gaming hype.
All things considered, it’s smart of the ESA to move on this decision now, because while the world’s state may be healthier by the summer, it also may not be. No doubt we’ll all find different ways to consume gaming hype in the wake of an E3-less year. Nintendo and Sony already brings fans game info and announcements via its online events, and it looks like Microsoft and Ubisoft may follow suit. In fact, in the wake of its cancellation, E3 may even become some sort of digital experience as well, an option it seems the ESA is currenty exploring. At this point, following the motto “better safe than sorry” is the way to go. And besides, don’t we all just want to stay inside and play video games, anyway?
Video from YouTube user Pretty Good Gaming
[Article source: GameSpot, GamesRadar+]
Lede image © 2020 Entertainment Software Association.
VIRTUAL BASTION 
This was a bummer to read about. I don’t really care about most E3 things and most modern gaming in general but the excitement is always welcome. Miku Expo 2020 was also postponed which is a huge bummer!
I hope that going forward, different publishers doing independent streams becomes the norm, rather than the big theatrical production they put on now with schedules and all that.
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I concur. Things have changed so much since the days when yearly E3 was THE ONLY place to see the latest and greatest(?) in gaming. I like the more direct approach of individual companies reaching out to consumers through their own internet events. As it is now, that may, indeed, be the wave of the future.
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Absolutely. And they can cater it more towards their audience rather than it all having this grandiose presentation. I always enjoy LimitedRunGames streamed presentations because they intentionally make it the polar opposite of E3 itself – lo-fi, cheesy graphics, etc. Really cool how they do that!
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Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
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