Coronavirus does the E3 2020 - gaming industry badly hit

Hard to believe the E3 2020 has been canceled. As expected, the reason is the corona virus. Does the virus kill the event forever?

• The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was canceled due to the corona virus.
• Microsoft responds with defiance and plans its own event.
• New Xbox Series X information will follow soon.

Los Angeles, USA - Coronavirus removes the world's most important gaming fair . Due to the continuing coronavirus epidemic , the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was recently canceled. Now publishers and exhibitors from all over the world react to the bad news. Microsoft responds with a defiance on Twitter . The US company is planning its own event to present the new Xbox Series X to fans.

Corona virus: Cancellation of E3 causes disappointment - Microsoft reacts

The Electronic Entertainment Expo , or E3 for short, has been held annually in Los Angeles since 1995. With over 200 exhibitors, more than 65,000 visitors and countless developers from all over the world, the event, traditionally held in June, is one of the most important trade fairs in the gaming industry. Not only did publishers and developers use the fair to publish countless new games and additional content, the event is also used to present new consoles.

E3 2020: Most important gaming fair in the world canceled.

© Entertainment Software Association

After the Japanese electronics company Sony announced in 2019 that it would not be attending E3 next year, the fair lost its importance for many fans. Industry giant Nintendo is also increasingly using specially organized events, the Nintendo Directs, to present major new products. But despite this, there are still numerous developers and publishers at the event, who present their latest game pearls live. The corona virus is now putting a huge spanner in the works on these plans.

The Entertainment Software Association, ESA for short, has now announced that the event will unfortunately not take place this year. The organizer commented on the official E3 website as follows:

"After careful consultation with our partners, we decided to cancel this year's E3 due to the Corona virus.

It was not an easy decision to cancel the E3 2020 , but we believe that this should be the best way for everyone involved. We ourselves are also disappointed that we cannot hold this event for our fans and supporters this year . "

It also says that all exhibitors and participants will be offered a full refund. They also want to organize an online experience in June 2020 . More information is expected to follow over the next few weeks. It is therefore not out of the question that the E3 will still take place in the form of individual streams. In the meantime, events all over the world had to be canceled * due to the corona virus *.

Coronavirus: Phil Spencer comments on E3 cancellation and announces event for Xbox Series X.

Nevertheless, Microsoft does not want to rest on its own laurels and to counter the cancellation and the corona virus, the company plans, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer , to have its own digital event instead of the E3 . As is known, the new Xbox Series X console will be launched later this year, and even if Microsoft has already released a lot of information in this regard, fans have not yet seen a live presentation of the new console. Microsoft has not yet covered itself as much as its Japanese competitor Sony, but there are still some open questions, such as the selling price of the Xbox Series X.

Except for a few release games and some new features * that have been mentioned, fans have heard little about Microsoft's latest piece of hardware. However, as Phil Spencer announced in a Twitter comment , Xbox veterans don't have to worry about a missing announcement. Despite the corona virus, the XboX Series X was to be shown to the fans.

" The E3 has always been an important event for Team Xbox" Given the decision to cancel, we will celebrate the next generation of gaming with the entire Xbox community this year. All other details will follow in the coming weeks . "

E3 has always been an important moment for Team Xbox. Given this decision, this year we'll celebrate the next generation of gaming with the @Xbox community and all who love to play via an Xbox digital event. Details on timing and more in the coming weeks https://t.co/xckMKBPf9h

Microsoft Marketing Manager Aaron Greenberg also commented on the current state of affairs related to the corona virus . He says Microsoft is currently working on an " incredible amount of exciting things " and the team continues to work hard to share all of their projects in a digital format with the community. "

Bummed to miss celebrating @ E3 in person with all of our fans, media, and partners. With that said we have an incredible amount of exciting things in the works and team is going to continue to work hard to share all of that with you in a digital format. The Xbox show must go on! https://t.co/4mKOO8TLue

In retrospect, it remains to be said that despite the unfortunate cancellation of the E3 due to the corona virus , one should not stick one's head in the sand. The developers and publishers are doing everything possible to make their previously planned content available to the public.

* ingame.de is part of the nationwide editorial network of the Ippen-Digital-Zentralredaktion

Source: ingame.de

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Rubric list image: © Entertainment Software Association / Microsoft