E3 2020is in an unfortunate position. The ESA-run event that runs annually has all eyes on it, as fans and media wait to see if the show actually goes on in June. As of this week, the ESA has reaffirmed thatE3 2020is indeed still scheduled to run through the week of June 7.
However, the ever-growing outbreak of the new coronavirus has impacted the gaming industry on virtually all fronts, meaning there’s still a significant chance that the event will end up being canceled, much like the cancellation of GDC 2020 just last week. If that happens, it could result in the end of E3 as people know it.
E3, as a trade show, has never been canceled in its now 25-year history. That isn’t to say the show’s producers have never experienced adversity in producing it. Even through those troubling times (like that weird time in 2007 when E3 entirely shifted its image and took place in Santa Monica), the event that many consider to be the biggest one in gaming has managed to stay alive in times when it seemed like it was on its way out.
2020 is proving to be the event’s most challenging year yet though, as big names in the industry continue to drop out of events amid concerns over thecoronavirus outbreak(and other, less life-threatening reasons). With Los Angeles declaring a state of emergency over the outbreak, the future of E3 is in the balance.
RELATED:E3 Moving Ahead Despite Coronavirus Fears
Before the Outbreak Got to This Level
There were already going to be plenty ofserious changes at E3 2020when it starts in June. First off, Sony decided earlier this year that it would not be attending E3 2020, much like the year before. Although the new coronavirus was already a serious hazard by January, Sony’s decision to skip E3 this year was, according to the company, due to it not feeling in line with “the vision of E3 2020.” More than likely, Sony will be hosting its own presentations, a la State of Play, throughout the year in order to fully showcase the upcoming PS5.
A month after Sony’s announcement, producer of E3 Coliseum and The Game Awards Geoff Keighley also announced that he’d be skipping E3 2020 supposedly because of some sort of insider knowledge that rubbed him the wrong way.Whether or not Keighley’s absence from the show has anything to do with the fact that theESA leaked informationon more than 2,000 journalists in 2019 is still a mystery but that significant breach of trust has ruined faith in the show among many members of the media. E3 also saw a decrease in attendance from 2018 to 2019 when it went from seeing 69,200 attendees to 66,100. This is yet another problem that the ESA must deal with.
The End of E3 as We Know It
The new coronavirus might actually be the catalyst that causes the end of E3 as a trade show and gaming convention.GDC was canceledthis year solely because of concerns for the virus, so it’s not out of the question to imagine that E3 is next in line to shut its doors. If E3 2020 ends up being canceled, then publishers that show up annually to the event will be forced to market their games elsewhere, with most of them likely choosing to stream or post a trailer online in the process.
If and when that happens, publishers could then get a better grasp of how a marketing cycle without E3 would feel. Subsequently, many publishers would then probably understand why Sony decided to skip it these past two years and ultimately decide for themselves to skip E3 in the future. Nintendo and EA figured this out years before Sony, as skipping E3 means saving millions of dollars for the companies, and reaching fans directly also has its benefits. With more and morepublishers pulling out of E3in this hypothetical scenario, this domino effect would cause the collapse of the event and ultimately its end.
The new coronavirus is already wreaking havoc on populations across the globe, as more and more countries confirm cases of the outbreak. With the global gaming industry being one of the economic victims of the outbreak, E3 2020, and E3 in general, could be in serious trouble. With a couple of months left until June and someE3 2020 secretsstill on lockdown, people are watching and waiting to see how the ESA will continue to respond to the situation.
E3 2020is scheduled to run from June 9 to June 11, with press conferences occurring in the days beforehand.
