E3 2020 Has Officially Been Canceled Over Coronavirus Fears; Comic-Con and WonderCon are Still a Go

E3 organizers have announced that this year’s video game conference has been canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic. The event wasn’t supposed to take place until June in Los Angeles, but they obviously don’t want to take any chances.

ESA said in a statement:

“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.

“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.”

ESA went on to say that it will be reaching out directly to exhibitors and attendees with information about “providing full refunds.” They also said they’re exploring options to produce an online event to showcase industry announcements in June.

Well, this is a bummer! I always enjoy attending E3 and it’s a shame they decided to cancel. I obviously understand why they felt they had to make this decision, but still.

As for WonderCon and San Diego Comic-Con, Comic-Con International recently released a statement saying that these events are still on track. They released the following statement to ABC:

“Comic-Con is working with local officials as it pertains to the COVID-19 situation and continues to monitor developments closely. At this time both shows, WonderCon Anaheim and Comic-Con in San Diego, are moving forward as scheduled. As always, the safety and security of all our attendees is of utmost importance. Please rest assured that these concerns are being taken very seriously and we will not make any decisions regarding the rescheduling of shows without weighing all considerations carefully.”

I really hope that these events don’t get canceled! I love attending these conventions! But, as we see how things develop over the next month or so, things can change and there’s still a chance these shows could be canceled. I’m just hoping this whole thing dies down soon and people can all get back to living normal lives again.