Through the gaming community (as well as the world at large), concerns over COVID-19, or the Coronavirus, are rapidly growing. Many nations have shut down the majority of airports, restricted travel, and imposed other measures to help stop the spreading virus, which has now spread to multiple confirmed cases in the United States.
Along with these restrictions, many gaming events have been canceled or postponed. The LPL, for example, was postponed before now being played behind closed doors with no audience. As recently as today, the Game Developers Conference 2020 organizers announced that they would be postponing the event until Summer after Blizzard and several other companies pulled out of the event.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s stopping everyone, apparently. Patrick Klepek, senior reported of Waypoint, discussed the matter on Twitter earlier this week, mentioning the different approaches that different companies were taking. E3, according to what he’s reporting, has no interest in taking it easy.
“Everyone is watching the situation very closely. We will continue to be vigilant, as our first priority is the health, wellness, and safety of all of our exhibitors and attendees,” the organizer told Klepek. “Given what we know at this time, we are moving ahead full speed with E3 2020 planning. Exhibit and registration sales are on track for an exciting show in June.”
Of course, there’s quite some time between now and June, and we never know what the next development is going to be. The spread of COVID-19 has been exponential and has gone further than many were expecting it to. Given that E3 is intended to be held in Los Angeles, California, the same state where two health workers tested positive for the virus, there could certainly be changes to the plan moving forward.
Some have been expressing concern on Twitter over the statement made by the E3 organizer that Klepek was quoting, who chose to remain anonymous for a variety of reasons. A handful of fans felt uneasy over the representative citing the sales as still growing, making some feel that the company is prioritizing sales over the health of those who could be coming.
E3 this year has already been impacted by the withdrawal of several gaming developers, who have chosen not to appear at the conference. It’s possible that, as concerns over the virus grow, more developers could opt out of the event out of concern for safety, as Blizzard did with GDC 2020. Only time will tell what the coming months will hold.
