Update: In a statement sent to PC Gamer, the ESA confirmed that plans for the E3 2020 online event have been cancelled. “Given the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be presenting an E3 2020 online event in June. Instead, we will be working with exhibitors to promote and showcase each company's announcements, including on www.e3expo.com in the coming month,” a spokesperson said.
Original article: Remember when Sony announced it wouldn't be attending E3 a few years ago and everyone acted like the platform holder had lost their collective mind? It looks like the Japanese giant is once again ahead of the curve, as the show's implosion has been both dramatic and hard to watch. This year's convention was shaping up to be a disaster before the coronavirus spared its blushes, and although the 2021 showcase is already dated, rumors are swirling The organizer of the planned ESA alternative online event for this summer has been deleted.
According to journalist Mike Futter, speaking in the Virtual Economy Podcast, the ESA has made one last push to try and woo publishers for some sort of broadcast-based E3 showcase. They all politely declined. According to a presentation slide, the touted production partners included both IGN and, uh, Good Morning America. Truly.
Here is the terrain slide. @AndreaRene is a smart partner. Good Morning America...is a choice...
But what stands out... IGN... who (along with a number of ESA member publishers) basically just said at E3, "We don't need you."
It's damning for the future. pic.twitter.com/PJ8uzvKNyV — Mike Futter (@Futterish) April 4, 2020
Perhaps most interestingly, IGN recently announced its own summer showcase, perhaps suggesting that the website declined the ESA's invitation and decided to go it alone. Although it looks like E3 is coming back next year, we really think you're witnessing the beginning of the end here. Publishers will use this year's cancellation to do their own thing, and getting them back into the E3 fold will be difficult to say the least.
