Update: It’s official, ESA just confirmed the news.
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread, reaching above 100,000 affected worldwide, more and more industries are impacted by the need to protect consumers and employees alike from falling ill. After SXSW and GDC’s cancellation, it looks like E3 2020 is the next event to be laid to rest due to the continued spread of the pandemic.
Numerous sources have been reporting about the cancellation all over Twitter and Prima Games confirmed with our own sources that a statement is being prepared that will go live later today concerning the cancellation. Additionally, we spoke with numerous developers and activation companies over the course of the last 12-15 hours and they are all saying the same thing: 2020’s E3 is done.
The speculation first began after Devolver sent out the below tweet warning E3 attendees to cancel their plans:
Cancel your E3 flights and hotels, y’all.
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) March 11, 2020
Then Kotaku’s Jason Schreier jumped on the news in addition to VICE’s Patrick Klepek:
I’ve heard the ESA have been vetting a statement about E3’s status with various publishers and vendors, following an emergency meeting to discuss the event’s status/future. https://t.co/e0dDleEac2
— Patrick Klepek (@patrickklepek) March 11, 2020
That’s when Prima started digging into our own sources while other sites went right to the report, such as Ars Technica. While several notable names pulled out of E3 this year, this is the first time since its conception that the entire event has taken a year off, which has murmurs afoot talking about what this means for the future of the ESA.
Our sources have told us to prepare for a statement here shortly, we’ll keep this post updated as news hits.
