Get to know all about the impact of ongoing COVID-19 outbreak on the Gaming Industry.
Officially named as COVID-19, this global epidemic has cost lakhs of people to suffer and has slow down the economy of the world abruptly. Like every other industry, the Gaming Industry has been affected deeply and has experienced huge delays in the work station. 2020 was all set to be an eventful year but the corona outbreak has come at a worse time for all the developers. This has to lead the industry to take an unbearable shut down until the situation is under controlled.
Further, the outbreak has resulted in several events and conferences to be postponed, Game and hardware launching delays, Trade shows to be called off, and the isolation of workstations to prevent the spreading of this deadly virus. Here’s a list of all the sectors that were affected due to the outbreak.
Conferences
With the onset of the virus spreading over the world, several conferences were cancelled to stop the rapid growth of the virus. However, this was the first and major impact on the Gaming Industry that could be seen due to the outbreak.
GDC 2020 Postponed
Though its hard news for all the developers out there it is quite true in itself. This year's Game Development Conference that was scheduled to happen on March was later postponed by the GDC Officials. An announcement from the GDC Official Website said that,
“After close consultation with our partners in the game development industry and community around the world, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone the Game Developers Conference this March”. Check out the GDC Official Website for more details.
This came into action when several big studios dropped out of the event which includes, Microsoft, EA, and Sony and so on.
E3 is Officially Cancelled
Well known as the Electronic Entertainment Expo got Officially Cancelled due to the Corona outbreak. It has been a great event since years of Game development as several developers come here to showcase their talent while publishers and hardware companies get an opportunity to showcase what they have for the gamers. Unfortunately, E3 2020 was cancelled this year with the following announcement,
“After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry – our fans, our employees, our exhibitors, and our longtime E3 partners – we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles. 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.” For more details check E3 2020 full announcement.
SONY Cancels PAX East Shows
After cancelling the E3 this year, Sony pulled out from the PAX East shows taking the outbreak into the consideration. However, PAX is still On but Sony being away from the event got a major lacking in the years Game Event.
Square Enix Head Off from the PAX Shows
Just like any other company pulled out from the PAX East show, Square Enix made it clear to stay away from participating this year's PAX EAST Show. The decision came into action seeing the rapid growth of the virus and the necessity of the prevention.
The Taipei Game Shows are cancelled
Was originally scheduled to happen on Feb second week, later got cancelled due to the ongoing concern of the Corona outbreak. This preventive measure taken by the company ensured further spreading of the virus. The organisers of the Tapes Shows has decided to cancel the Annual Show this year.
SXSW was cancelled
A festival held in Austin, Texas each year to celebrate the entertainment industry which includes, Film, Games, Music and so on got cancelled this year. The developers who were waiting to release their game in this event have to now search for other alternatives.
TwitchCon Amsterdam got cancelled
A convention that is held two times a year for the live-streaming service has cancelled its European shows by seeing the ongoing outbreak and severity of the Corona Virus.
Game and Hardware Releases
Surprisingly the production of the games and hardware got hindered unexpectedly which lead to the delayed launching of the products. All the products that were about to come out now were rescheduled back to late this year.
Nintendo Switch Production was delayed for the Japanese Market
Due to the sudden and rapid spreading of Corona Virus, the Asian Market has experienced huge delays in the service locally. So does the sell and delivery of the Nintendo Switch. The production for the Japanese market is in shortage and the company has to clear all the pre-orders made by these countries. However, the company officials have said there will be no delays in other regions which includes North America and Europe.
Oculus Quest Holds further Order and Production
The Popular and most demanding VR Headset is now back-ordered. The Production of the products is now paused while taking required precautions for the safety of the employees. Due to the lack of Production, the product will remain stock out for a while.
TurboGrafx-16 Mini Rescheduled
Made by Konami, a Plug and Play console preloaded with 50 games was rescheduled which was originally going to release on March this year. Not only the production but the whole shipping service was affected by the following outbreak.
The Outer Worlds port was delayed
Just like the delayed hardware, the players now have to wait for the release of Outer Worlds. Private Division is yet to announce the release date which will be available via download, but the good news instead is that the physical carriage will be available pretty soon.
Minecraft Dungeon to be Released Late
The game which was planned to be released in April this year is now delayed as the employees are working from their respective home. This is, however, slowing down the production rate but is a great workaround when it comes to getting things done.
Events
Just like the Conferences, Game Events got called off and were restricted by the officials for the prevention. However, this resulted in several Live Events by top companies to cancel their respected events which might not be possible later this year.
EA suspends all Esports Live Events
EA was the first to be out from all the Conferences and Game events to curb the spread of Coronavirus. EA has announced that all the Game Events including Apex Legends, FIFA 20, and Madden NFL 20 to be suspended.
Overwatch Events got cancelled in China
Being in the severe zone of the virus-infected area, Blizzard cancelled all the Multi events of Overwatch in China.
PUBG Berlin Event got cancelled
With the ongoing outbreak of the virus, PUBG corporations have kept its most crucial Events in the hold. However, the PUBG Global Series that was to be held in Berlin was postponed this month.
EVE Online’s FanFest was cancelled
The EVE Online’s Annual fest was initially planned to be held on April this year at Iceland was also cancelled after getting the first case of the Coronavirus. The officials were responsible enough to cancel it quickly for further safety of their personnel and the people.
Call of Duty League Events got cancelled
Following the cancellation of the overwatch League Events, Activision decided to cancel all the events for the Call of Duty Game Events. Activision has decided to move all the leagues to the online matches only.
Until and unless the pandemic is not under control, there will be continuous delays and slowdown in the Gaming Industry. However, for now, it is essential to keep the whole environment safe first in order to live a happy life ahead. All the preventive measures are taken in order to reduce further spreading of the disease and this will lead us to a better tomorrow.
Stay Home, Stay Safe !
With Love From VOiD1 Gaming
**VOiD1 Gaming is not sponsored by any of the above Companies. All trademarks appearing in this list are registered trademarks of the respective companies.**