COVID-19 (aka the Coronavirus) has officially finished of E3 2020.

The ESA made it official on Wednesday, March 11, 2020:

“After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry…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.”

ESA

Phil Spencer, Vice President of Gaming at Microsoft, chimed in via Twitter. Spencer assures that even though there will be no conference, fans can expect future announcements via digital events.

E3 has always been an important moment for Team Xbox. Given this decision, this year we'll celebrate the next generation of gaming with the @Xbox community and all who love to play via an Xbox digital event. Details on timing and more in the coming weeks https://t.co/xckMKBPf9h

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) March 11, 2020

Microsoft was one of only a few remaining large companies still planning to attend E3 2020.

Sony, Geoff Keighley, Valve, Activision Blizzard, already announced that they are not attending this year’s E3.

This may very well be the end of E3 for good. Given the high profile pull-outs, the conference no longer has the same influence it once did. Now, we will have a year without E3 due to COVID-19. If things turn out okay, this may very well prove that E3 is no longer needed.

[Source: ESA]