There is a really massive health scare going on right now. We’re sure you are all aware of the coronavirus, a potentially deadly disease that the CDC is attempting to get ahead of. With so many individuals infected around the world, markets are starting to feel the problem with the coronavirus and now we’re seeing several changes take place due to it. For the video game industry, we have seen several companies pulled out from attending any big events that would gather individuals worldwide to attend.
As a precaution, several companies are pulling their employees from attending certain events in order to potentially avoid catching the illness along with fear of further spreading the disease. This is why we have seen several cancellations from those that were supposed to attend PAX East along with the entire GDC event being postponed. Despite these cancellations, there are still other big events planning to occur such as E3.
When it comes to the ESA, E3 is still on for June, even though the city it’s being held at, Los Angeles, was hit by a state of emergency. Apparently, the staff behind E3 are keeping a close eye on the situation. Of course, even if E3 continues on, there could potentially be several companies who simply opt-out from attending. Now it looks like Gamescom is another event that is not interested in shelving the 2020 year due to the coronavirus.
This trade fair is held in Germany and the organizers that put up Gamescom have stated to IGN that at the moment there is no cancellation for Gamescom. Instead, the event will be taking place in August of this year as usual, but again, much like the ESA, Koelnmesse is keeping an eye on the situation with the coronavirus. Already, there have been cancellations from the building location from other events that were planned simply to avoid the coronavirus.
