Ever since the cancelation of E3 2020, many have been wondering what else would be affected due to the Coronavirus pandemic and what, if anything would be taking place instead of the event. Recently, Bethesda announced that they aren’t going to be holding digital event for what would’ve been their E3 conference. Other events such as Quakecon have also been canceled because of the pandemic. There are several big video game shows that happen throughout the year. One of the biggest shows outside of E3 is Gamescom. The organizers of the event have revealed their plans for the event saying that Gamescom 2020 is taking place from August 25-29, 2020, in a digital format.
Felix Falk, Managing Director of Gamescom said: “Millions of fans worldwide are excited about Gamescom 2020. That is why we are determined to celebrate the latest news, announcements and world premieres together with the community again this year at the end of August. In view of the corona crisis, we are now expanding all digital formats at full speed so that Gamescom 2020 can at least take place digitally in any case. We already reach millions of Gamescom fans worldwide with the global show Gamescom: Opening Night Live and the Gamescom now portal. Further expansion of our digital strategy is the way to go right now.”
While the show will be taking place digitally, the organizers have also announced that they will be looking into a physical version of the event as it has been but that information will be revealed in May. “Gamescom and Koelnmesse already rank among the digital pioneers in the international trade fair landscape. We therefore also see the current corona crisis as a chance to implement digital event formats even more. Gamescom 2020 offers the perfect platform for this. When we reassess the situation in Mid-May for all Gamescom formats at the Cologne fairgrounds, the health of our visitors will be our top priority. It goes without saying that preparations are well underway both physically and digitally,” says Oliver Frese, Managing Director, Koelnmesse GmbH.