One more gaming event bites the dust. It has been confirmed that the upcoming Tokyo Game Show has been canceled. The event was supposed to take place from September 24 to 27, however given the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, it makes sense that the organizers are not willing to take such a big risk.
A replacement has already been planned, and the event will now take place online. It is not confirmed whether the online event will occur on the same dates. More information will be revealed soon.
"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," the official statement from the organizers reads.
Tokyo Game Show is a gaming convention that first started back in 1996. Since then it has been held annually without missing a single year, until now. The event was able to attract over 300,000 people in 2018. It makes sense to cancel such an event, as this kind of convention will definitely be problematic during these trying times.
That’s not the only event that has suffered due to the on-going virus. The upcoming Paris Game Week 2020, which was originally going to take place in late October, has also been canceled. PGW will return in 2021. Other events like GDC 2020, E3 2020, and several gaming tournaments were also either canceled or turned into online events.
You can learn more about the on-going COVID-19 outbreak on the official CDC site and the World Health Organization website.
So what do you think? Were you looking forward to the Tokyo Game Show? Will you be watching the online event? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
