The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2020 (E3 2020) would have been the 26th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry would have presented new and upcoming products. The event, organized by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), was to take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 9–11, 2020. However, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the ESA announced it would cancel the event, marking the first time since the launch of E3 in 1995 that it was not held. In lieu of that, several publishers made plans to continue with presentations of game announcements during the planned E3 period, while others opted to use more traditional marketing throughout the year.
Format and changes
In the days prior to the event, major hardware and software vendors were to host press conferences at nearby venues, where they would introduce new hardware and games that would be on display at the exhibitor's hall during the actual event. Within the event period, attendees would have been able to view these products at the exhibitor's hall, often including playable game demos, attended special presentations offered by companies, and in some cases, had private meetings with companies on their products. The E3 period is often used by journalists from video game publications as well as social media influencers to provide initial comments on these new games. This also enables retailers to plan out what products to purchase for the remainder of the year, particularly for critical Christmas and holiday sales periods.
E3 2020 was due to continue to offer public passes to the event, though the number offered was increased to 25,000 from 15,000 from the prior E3 event.[1]
The ESA stated that they planned to revise the format for E3 2020 to feature more interactivity for attendees as to reflect the changing audience for the show, and looking to make it a "fan, media and influencer festival".[2][1] ESA stated the event would be "an exciting, high-energy show featuring new experiences, partners, exhibitor spaces, activations, and programming that will entertain new and veteran attendees alike".[3] ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louis said they were inspired by the Keanu Reeves moment from E3 2019 as the type of event they can't plan for but thrive on, and wanted to create more opportunities for similar events in the future. Part of this would have been achieved by bringing more "celebrity gamers" to various facets of the exposition.[4] Among ESA's creative partners had included iam8bit as creative directors.[5] However, in early March 2020, iam8bit announced they had pulled out as creative directors for the show.[6]
Sony Interactive Entertainment, who had presented at every E3 until E3 2019, stated they would not attend E3 in 2020 for a second year in a row, as the new vision of the show did not meet their goals, and instead they will present at a number of smaller events throughout the year.[7]Microsoft's Xbox division had affirmed they would attend the show, where it was expected that more details of the 4th generation of the Xbox consoles, including the Xbox Series X with release planned in late 2020, would be announced.[8]
Geoff Keighley, who had organized and hosted the E3 Coliseum, a live-streamed event over the course of E3 with interviews with developers and publishers, since E3 2017, said that he had decided not to participate this year nor be a part of E3, the first time in 25 years.[9] Pierre-Louis stated that they had still planned to have digital programming like E3 Coliseum.[4]
Cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic
In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of emergency declared by Los Angeles County in early March 2020, ESA stated then that they were assessing the situation but at the time were still planning on going ahead with the event.[10] The ESA formally announced they had officially canceled the physical event on March 11, 2020, stating "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. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it's the right decision based on the information we have today."[11] In addition to providing full refunds for participants, the ESA was looking into options for virtual presentations for exhibitors to use during the planned week as an alternative event.[11]
On April 7, 2020, the ESA told PC Gamer that they had determined they would not be able to host a digital E3 event as the disruption caused by the pandemic made it difficult to assemble the event. Instead, the ESA would offer to manage individual partners' announcements via the E3 website.[12]
Alternative events
Microsoft
Microsoft announced after the cancellation of E3 2020 that it would host a digital event to cover information it had planned to provide at E3, including games and details on the fourth generation of Xbox consoles it launched in 2020.[13] Starting in May 2020, Microsoft began running monthly events to reveal new games for the Xbox Series X and other hardware details.[14]
Among the games Microsoft revealed on its May 7, 2020, event include:[15]
Sony ran its major reveal of the PlayStation 5 console and numerous games in an online presentation on June 11, 2020.[17] Among the games revealed include:[18]
Nintendo had planned to hold a mainline Nintendo Direct presentation in June 2020 to showcase its planned offerings for the rest of 2020 as its means for alternate E3 announcements. However, complications related to the pandemic caused the event to be cancelled. Many reports indicated they would focus on the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario series in the event, with titles such as Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit and Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which they later did in September 2020.[19]
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, which has generally held its "EA Play" side event alongside E3 in a nearby Los Angeles location in the previous years but has not been part of E3 directly, instead held an "EA Play" online showcase on June 18, 2020.[20] Among game announcements, EA stated their plan to continue to bring their games to the Steam platform for Windows (in addition to their Origin platform), including the EA Access subscription program, and to the Nintendo Switch and a larger commitment to cross-platform play for more of their titles. New or update titles presented during the presentation included Apex Legends, It Takes Two, Lost in Random, Rocket Arena, and Star Wars: Squadrons, as well as a planned new game in the Skate series.[21]
Devolver Digital
Devolver Digital, which had already planned to run a streamed event at E3, held their showcase on July 11, 2020.[22] The showcase continued the narrative around the company's fictional chief synergy officer Nina Struthers from previous years wrapped around the various announcements. Among the announcements included:[23]
Limited Run Games planned to run an online presentation for its upcoming games on June 8, 2020, but the event was delayed and ultimately canceled due to the George Floyd protests.[26][27]
IGN Summer of Gaming
The video game website IGN ran an online "Summer of Gaming" expo from June 11 to 13, 2020, that featured announcements, gameplay trailers and interviews with developers. Among the new games revealed or featured during this expo were:[28][29][30]
Games journalist Geoff Keighley arranged with numerous developers to run a four-month Summer Game Fest from May to August 2020, helping developers and publisher to host live streams and other events in lieu of the cancellation of E3 and Gamescom.[39] Alongside the Summer Game Fest, Keighley promoted the third Steam Game Festival, following after The Game Awards 2019 and from the previously canceled 2020 Game Developers Conference, which ran from June 16 through June 22, 2020. Over 900 games had demos available on Steam for players to try, alongside a slate of interviews with developers throughout the period.[40][41] A similar event for Xbox One games occurred from July 21 to 27, 2020, as part of the Summer Game Fest.[42]
Among games and other announcements made during the Summer Game Fest include:
An online video game presentation that was organized by Suda51 and Sean Chiplock that showcased many upcoming games for the remainder of 2020 and early 2021.[48]
The games that were announced during the presentation were:
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