E3 2020 is no more, if multiple reports are to be believed. After Devolver Digital posted a tweet saying “Cancel your E3 flights and hotels, y’all,” multiple games journalists jumped in to confirm that they were hearing the same. Our own sources also tell us that E3 2020 is indeed getting canceled, and we’re expecting an official announcement from the ESA within the next 24 hours.
Cancel your E3 flights and hotels, y’all.
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) March 11, 2020
Devolver (usually not known for its subtlety) set off a firestorm on games Twitter that had seemingly been waiting for someone to break open the floodgates of confirmation on this one.
From multiple sources.
— Mike Futter (@Futterish) March 11, 2020
My day started with investigating some E3 stuff. Ended with multiple (and I mean MULTIPLE) sources coming my way.
E3 cancelation announcement scheduled for tmw AM. I don’t think it will hold the night. Many of us have been engaged by sources this evening.
Cancel your plans.
— Mike Futter (@Futterish) March 11, 2020
Ars Technica reported on the cancellation with its own sources confirming the reports as well.
Kotaku’s Jason Schreier also confirmed the cancellation, saying he had heard secondhand from numerous developer and publisher sources that had been notified.
Been hearing secondhand whispers tonight from several devs/pubs that E3 is cancelled, although I’ve also heard from a couple of people in positions to know that the ESA hasn’t officially made a decision yet and is still consulting with pubs. Either way, it’s only a matter of time https://t.co/Od0MDj3ZXv
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 11, 2020
It’s expected that the E3 2020 cancellation is related to the ongoing threat of coronavirus, which has caused countless large expos, conventions, and gatherings to be either delayed or canceled altogether.
This is why the chances of E3 actually happening this year seem slim: https://t.co/UeGAExIkX5
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 10, 2020
However, E3 2020 has already faced a number of difficulties as the event tried to straddle being both an industry trade show and a consumer event. Some of its biggest exhibitors—including Sony—have opted out of the show for multiple years now. Geoff Keighley, normally championing shows and events like E3, dropped his participation saying he was “not comfortable” with the direction the ESA was taking the show. And most recently, iam8bit suddenly resigned as the creative directors of the show just three months before it was scheduled to take place.
This also calls into question the entire future of the show itself. Many have speculated that with E3 on its last legs, a cancellation this year would be too devastating to recover from as exhibitors discovered the relative lack of impact not attending would have. Of course, that’s purely speculative at this point. As we wait to hear more about the E3 2020 cancellation and get further into the year, we can better assess the impacts on what it means for E3 2021 and beyond.
Reports say we should get an official announcement tomorrow, but there is some conflicting information going around. Most people feel that regardless of whether or not it’s announced tomorrow or later, E3 2020 is indeed canceled as the spread of coronavirus in the US continues to pose a threat without any signs of slowing.
E3 2020 was originally scheduled to take place June 9-11, 2020.
