The Tokyo Game Show has become the latest casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic, the show’s organisers confirmed on Friday, with the event moving to an entirely digital format.
The 2020 event was scheduled to take place between September 24-27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center just outside Tokyo, but like E3 and Gamescom, it will no longer be going ahead. This is the first time the show has been cancelled since it made its debut in 1996.
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"Due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus on a global scale and the situation remains unpredictable in Japan as well, the organizer and the co-organizers have reached this decision after a long consideration to place the utmost priority on the health and safety of visitors, exhibitors and stakeholders," a statement from the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association reads.
This cancellation of the Tokyo Game Show comes just days after the organizers of Paris Games Week, which was due to take place between October 23rd-27th, has been cancelled outright due to “technical and logistical complexities.”
A big deal
The Tokyo Game Show is a big event for many publishers. In 2018, a year the convention saw almost 300,000 visitors, Sony used it to show off Death Stranding in-depth ahead of its release. The show also played host to a previously-unseen Final Fantasy VII trailer and gameplay presentation
Until today’s cancellation, it was widely expected - as one of the last remaining game shows of 2020 - to have been as a showcase for next-generation of games for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, both of which are set to go on sale this holiday season.
However, that could still happen. Like the majority of other cancelled events this year, the in-person Tokyo Game Show will be replaced with an online-only event. It’s not entirely clear if it will still take place from September 24th-27th, but the organizers said will release more details later this month.
The only game show that hasn’t yet been cancelled is the PAX West event, which is still scheduled to take place this September in Seattle.
Via The Verge
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