As you know, E3 2020 was cancelled earlier this year because of worries about the coronavirus pandemic. This was then followed up with comments about a possible digital replacement for the event, with companies being able to showcase their work online.

However, it seems now that’s not going to happen. That’s because accordinng to the ESA, the organisation will not be presenting a digital event this June. Instead, they’ll be promoting/showcasing individual company announcements, presumably like Nintendo’s Directs, Sony’s State of Play, etc.

Here’s the official statement about it from the ESA:

Given the disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be presenting an online E3 2020 event in June. Instead, we will be working with exhibitors to promote and showcase individual company announcements, including on www.E3expo.com, in the coming months. We look forward to bringing our industry and community together in 2021 to present a reimagined E3 that will highlight new offerings and thrill our audiences.

It’s a pretty big step down really, and one which basically confirms E3 is all but gone in 2020.

So why is this the case? Why would the ESA cancel their digital event for E3 2020, given their earlier comments about the same?

Well, we believe it may have something to do with IGN. You see, earlier this year, IGN also announced they were holding a digital gaming event. Said event will be called the ‘Summer of Gaming’, and bring you news, previews, dev interviews and more regarding the biggest games.

And they’ve got a lot of companies onboard too. As the official announcement points out, the likes of Square Enix, Sega, 2K and Bandai Namco are involved here, with others likely confirming in due time.

Hence it’s likely the ESA realised they couldn’t really compete here. IGN had all the big names involved, and many of those big names had already sworn off E3 after last year’s hacks and problems.

Add this to the confusion multiple big events would have brought, and well, it probably made perfect sense to cancel the event. IGN just beat them to it, and their event had a better chance of succeeding than E3 did.

It may also be due to publishers not really needing said events overall too. After all, the likes of Nintendo and Sony already have their own ones, with regular presentations throughout the year. So the same companies likely wouldn’t need a digital E3, nor see any real benefits in participating in it.

But that’s just speculation on our end. Either way, E3 isn’t happening this year, whether in real life or online.

So what do you think about it? Do you have any thoughts as to why there won’t be a digital event for E3 this year? How will it affect the video game events scene as a whole?

Tell us what you think in the comments below, or over on the Gaming Latest forums!

Source:

E3 2020 Won’t Get An Official Digital Replacement, Despite Initial Plans