E3 2020, the biggest conference of the gaming industry, was cancelled because of fears of the coronavirus. This cancellation is the latest in a series of failures at the conferences that are important for the industry of virtual reality. The Association of entertainment software (ESA), which organizes E3, says that exploring the options “online experience to demonstrate industry announcements and news in June 2020.”
In a message posted today on the official web-site E3, it was announced about the cancellation of the event the game industry, held every year in Los Angeles.
- “After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of all in our industry — our fans, our employees, our exhibitors and our long-time partners at E3 — we made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.”
- “After growing and compelling concerns about virus COVID-19 we felt it was the best way to act in such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that they were unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know that this is the right decision based on the information we have today.”
- “Our team will directly contact the participants and visitors with information on the provision of full reparation.”
- “We are also considering the options with our members to coordinate online work to demonstrate industry announcements and news in June 2020. Updates will be posted on E3Expo.com.”
- “We thank everyone who shared their opinions about rethinking E3 this year. We look forward to the opportunity to introduce you to the E3 2021 as a new event, which will unite the fans, media and industry together to demonstrate to the world the video game industry.”
E3 has long been one of the few key conferences for the industry of virtual reality. Big players such as Oculus, Sony and HTC, used the event to demonstrate their latest equipment and content for virtual reality. Cancel E3 2020 is the latest in a number of actions that the coronavirus had on the industry of virtual reality.
Fears about the virus have also led to the cancellation of other key events in the industry of virtual reality, such as Mobile World Congress (MWC), the game developer’s Conference (GDC), and Facebook F8. Oculus, Valve and Nreal confirmed that the virus has also had a negative impact on the spread of their set.
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