E3 2020 Cancellation

I wouldn't be in the least surprised if this happens given what is going on in the world. It would seem reckless to continue with any large event but June is a way away yet.
 
Not a big surprise at all. Know it's much smaller scale but expecting EGX Rezzed to be cancelled as well.
 
It´s official, folks...

https://www.e3expo.com/


NEWS: E3 2020 CANCELLED DUE TO GROWING CONCERNS OVER COVID-19 VIRUS
After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry – our fans, our employees, our exhibitors, and our longtime E3 partners – we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.

Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today.

Our team will be reaching out directly to exhibitors and attendees with information about providing full refunds.

We are also exploring options with our members to coordinate an online experience to showcase industry announcements and news in June 2020. Updates will be shared on E3Expo.com.

We thank everyone who shared their views on reimagining E3 this year. We look forward to bringing you E3 2021 as a reimagined event that brings fans, media, and the industry together in a showcase that celebrates the global video game industry.
 
Once everybody has skipped E3 2020 and realised the gaming world hasn't ended, I think it will be an uphill struggle to resurrect what was already a waining enthusiasm for E3 next year.

E3 Online is an interesting idea, but it will cost them to organise and co-ordinate but their revenue streams (tickets and hiring out floor space) are zero. Unless they do something like BlizzCon.
 
DSoup said:
Once everybody has skipped E3 2020 and realised the gaming world hasn't ended, I think it will be an uphill struggle to resurrect what was already a waining enthusiasm for E3 next year.

E3 Online is an interesting idea, but it will cost them to organise and co-ordinate but their revenue streams (tickets and hiring out floor space) are zero. Unless they do something like BlizzCon.
Click to expand...
well consumer wise you mean.
It's still an industry event and still important for industry.

IIRC No Man's Sky was shown at E3 and then shortly after announcement was picked up by Sony to become an exclusive title.

Without E3, not sure that would have happened. Lots of deals happening on the trade floors between publishers and studios. Lots of industry folks gathering together to make things happen.
 
iroboto said:
well consumer wise you mean.
It's still an industry event and still important for industry.

IIRC No Man's Sky was shown at E3 and then shortly after announcement was picked up by Sony to become an exclusive title.

Without E3, not sure that would have happened. Lots of deals happening on the trade floors between publishers and studios. Lots of industry folks gathering together to make things happen.
Click to expand...
And likewise, youtube video's cannot replace all that contact. We here are only seeing this from our perspective when in truth we've been the interlopers of a trade show all along.
 
With Geoff Keighley leaving and then the supposed company organizing the new format pulling out as well, I think this is the final death knell to E3 as a yearly event.
 
iroboto said:
well consumer wise you mean.
It's still an industry event and still important for industry.

IIRC No Man's Sky was shown at E3 and then shortly after announcement was picked up by Sony to become an exclusive title.

Without E3, not sure that would have happened. Lots of deals happening on the trade floors between publishers and studios. Lots of industry folks gathering together to make things happen.
Click to expand...
I don't think that means E3 can't go virtual. A week of content that pubs could peruse, meet up online with developers, etc., could still happen. Maybe without the 'party atmosphere', some negotiations wouldn't happen, but there isn't really a technical need for a physical trade show for digitally-distributable art. One could even go a step further and have a persistent platform for publishers to view WIP content and make offers for. The only thing keeping every Indie and their dog from E3 is the price of entry. Make an online project marketplace professional enough and you'll keep out the riff-raff and just leave relevant content.
 
ToTTenTranz said:
Looks like it'll be increasingly difficult to contain all coronavirus related discussions within that one thread..
Click to expand...

Agreed, however E3 being Cancelled is enough of a topic that we should be able to have a discussion without being entirely focused on the virus. Such as what's already being discussed...

What will the various publishers do? Will they all work up their own Direct Video stream? Will E3 come up with their own online event hub with links outside?

I don't think E3 (ESA) has the time to create and put in place a full CMS Platform to host it all. At best they will do what most forums do, just have links to other released videos or at most their own YouTube Channel playlist.
 
iroboto said:
well consumer wise you mean.
It's still an industry event and still important for industry.
Click to expand...
I can't remember the last time I saw anybody in the industry talk about E3 as something the industry needs. This is why some of the biggest industry players dropped out over the years.

iroboto said:
IIRC No Man's Sky was shown at E3 and then shortly after announcement was picked up by Sony to become an exclusive title.
Click to expand...

No Man's Sky debuted at the VGX awards, which makes the rest of your post moot.
 
DSoup said:
I can't remember the last time I saw anybody in the industry talk about E3 as something the industry needs. This is why some of the biggest industry players dropped out over the years.



No Man's Sky debuted at the VGX awards, which makes the rest of your post moot.
Click to expand...
oh. my bad.

Okay; hopefully this article will do my point justice:

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/03/e3-2020-cancelled-indie-developers-increasingly-difficult-year/

But for indie developers looking to secure deals with smaller publishers or the first-party platforms, E3's cancellation poses a greater problem: the prospect of a long, hard winter without funding, or even the opportunity to pitch.

E3 has always been a show with two sides. One side is the conferences, the livestreams that regular viewers - and investors - tune into. Once the conferences are done, the show transitions to more of a hands-on event, with press, influencers and content creators experiencing and reporting on demos from the show floor. Behind the scenes, publishers and developers meet up to hash out deals, whether it's to fund an individual project, fighting for exclusivity on one platform or another, or just laying the groundwork for plans two, three or more years in advance.
Click to expand...

Because E3 is so dominated by the biggest publishers, regular gamers often see it through the lens of what Xbox, Nintnedo and Microsoft are doing. But it's also an important show for smaller studios to arrange meetings with larger brands and platform holders. And Mike Bithell, the British indie behind Thomas Was Alone, Subsurface Circular and John Wick: Hex, pointed out how big the problem is for smaller developers.
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1237647234164035586
 
iroboto said:
oh. my bad.

Okay; hopefully this article will do my point justice:

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/03/e3-2020-cancelled-indie-developers-increasingly-difficult-year/
Click to expand...

No, this article isn't about devs reliance on E3 at all, it is about the impact of the sudden cancellation of an event that was a convenient place for a dev to face-to-face with a publisher. It could have been anywhere, it just happened to be E3.

Kotaku said:
As Bithell pointed out in a reply, it's not so much that cancelled events prevent developers and studios from holding remote meetings. It's that humans just don't feel comfortable approving multi-million dollar budgets over a Skype or Slack call; they might be OK arranging the meeting to have that discussion, but when you're about to greenlight a project that might not be released for two, three or four years, you want to see that person in real-life. Studios can travel to individual publishers for important meetings and milestones, but that's also a huge drain on expenses, especally if airlines refused to refund a studio's flights and accommodation for events like GDC, PAX East and potentially E3.
Click to expand...

Kotaku said:
Lauren Clinnick, managing director at Lumi Interactive, said the effect of GDC and E3's closure, and the potential for bans on more conventions, could result in a "generation loss" of funding. "There could be a generation of less deals being signed, or a lag time in these deals being introduced by the chaos caused by adjusting (rightfully so) to responsible business practices during a global pandemic," Clinnick told Kotaku Australia.
Click to expand...

It could easily have been a hotel in Rome.. So.. :nope:
 
I think anyone who hasn't gone to E3 may not be the best point of view of its necessity or lack thereof. This is coming from someone who used to go on a yearly basis.

Tommy McClain
 
DSoup said:
Yes, this is what the article says. It's not saying E3 is necessary it's explaining that many folks had planned meetings at E3 for their business and that those now-cancelled meetings - along with issues regarding travel resulting from a global pandemic - are causing problems.
Click to expand...

These meetings only happen because of E3 and the concentration of industry people in one place. Only a similar event could create the conditions that allow these meetings to take place and if you're going to have a similar event, you may as well just have E3.
 
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