This current pandemic has swept the world by storm and has over the course of several months, cancelled dozens of major events around the world. This week sees two more event shows formally cancelled in the wake of Covid-19.
Yesterday saw Tokyo Game Show being moved to a digital-only format, and one of the biggest industry events in Asia is reeling at the shift to an online event. In an official press release, the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association confirmed the news. Originally scheduled to be held from September 24 to September 27, the event showcases the latest and upcoming titles in video games.
“Due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) 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. We ask for your kind understanding and cooperation.”
At this time though, there is no indication or details about how the online format will work or what the plan is. In fact, we still don’t know who’s joining the event in its new format.
Furthermore, today we learned that Paris Games Week will no longer be taking place as intended. The event was scheduled for October 23 to October 27 and would have marked the tenth anniversary for the industry event.
It is with great emotion that we have made the difficult decision to cancel Paris Games Week,” confirmed the Paris Games Week Team, “This year should have been special, with a line-up full of new releases, and an anniversary edition which we were thrilled to celebrate with you. We are going to work with all the industry players to enable us all to live our passion. We are already preparing next year’s edition and are looking forward to seeing you again.”
With restrictions only now beginning to ease up (and not by much) things may likely change as time goes on but as it stands, don’t expect things to go back to normal until sometime next year.
