E3 game show canceled due to coronavirus concerns

Looks like E3 is off. Several media rely on sources that indicate that the game fair in Los Angeles will be canceled due to concerns about the corona virus. The organization has not yet made any official decision on this.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles from June 9-11, but Bloomberg, for example, reports that the organizer, the Entertainment Software Association, will announce the cancellation at 5:30 PM GMT. The news agency bases this on a source who is said to be familiar with the matter. The ESA is said to have sent a non-public memo to partners in which the organizer wrote that it is “exploring options for an E3 online event this summer.”

Ars Technica previously reported based on multiple sources that the ESA will cancel the game fair in the short term; the organizer declined to answer questions about this. The independent game publisher Devolver Digital calls people on Twitter to cancel their flights and hotels for E3, although that call should be taken with a grain of salt, as this company came into conflict with the ESA in 2017. The publisher would then not have been given a place on the exhibition floor, after which it tried to organize its own event next to the location of the E3 fair. Devolver Digital also describes E3 as ‘a special form of torture’.

To date, the ESA has not officially said anything about a cancellation. An update focused on concerns about the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 continues to be posted on the E3 website. It states that the fair will continue as normal and that the organization is monitoring the situation on a daily basis. In addition, there are advice for visitors, such as washing hands often and avoiding direct contact with people who are sick.