E3 is one of the most popular video game shows on Earth, and it’s likely millions of people were looking forward to this year’s event, which was to take place in Los Angeles, California.
Sadly, though, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA for short) recently announced that E3 2020 had been cancelled, an announcement coming in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic which is now ravaging the world.
This has frustrated the plans of major companies like Microsoft, which was to do a full reveal of its eagerly anticipated Xbox Series X console at E3 this June. Others like Sony, though, had already announced they wouldn’t be attending the show this year, and therefore won’t be affected by E3’s cancelation.
But heavyweights like French video game company Ubisoft will be lamenting ESA’s cancelation of E3 this year. So said Ubisoft in a recent tweet (via VG247), writing that despite the company’s disappointment “the health and well-being of teams, players and partners is our top priority”.
An update regarding E3 2020. pic.twitter.com/cThkDIkfVm
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 11, 2020
The company is now looking to offer a “digital experience” to its fans this year in order to deliver the announcements it had planned for E3, writing that “exciting news” are coming from the company.
These news will certainly be related to the major games Ubisoft is working on right now. It currently has five major game projects in the pipeline, including Watch Dogs Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine and Gods and Monsters.
All these had to be delayed last year in order to allow Ubisoft’s studios more time to polish the games after Ghost Recon Breakpoint and The Division 2 tanked in 2019.
Read more: Why 2019 is looking a bit like 2014 for Ubisoft
Aside from these, it’s likely many gamers would like to hear news about Skull & Bones, a pirate-themed online multiplayer game which has been in the works at Ubisoft for some time now. This is a game Ubisoft said it would be supporting for a long time to come when it hits shelves, and it sure would be nice to hear more from it soon as it was absent from last year’s E3 as VG247 points out.
But since there won’t be an E3 show this year, it remains to be seen exactly how Ubisoft will deliver new information about Skull & Bones and the other games it plans to release in the months to come. It may be planning some sort of event to be livestreamed online, or some other kind of digital experience.
Hopefully the French company will also use this opportunity to reveal more information about the two other unnamed games it has in the works, which Ubisoft has said belong to two of its biggest franchises.
One of these is almost certainly a new Assassin’s Creed game, leaked information about which has emerged online in the last few months.
The other could be a new Far Cry game. The series hit a peak in 2018 with the release of Far Cry 5 (which is the top selling game in the franchise to date), so it’s likely Ubisoft will want to put out another game in the long-running shooter series sooner rather than later.
Leaving Ubisoft aside, this year’s cancellation of E3 will also be a bummer for others like Warner Bros. Games. The company was going to host its first E3 conference in 2020, but now like Ubisoft it will have to look at digital alternatives in order to make its announcements, which include a new Batman: Arkham game and British developer Rocksteady’s superhero game, which is still shrouded in mystery.
It would be a great thing, then, if in the absence of E3 this year game companies like Ubisoft found the perfect way to make their announcements and keep fans on their toes in what could still be a great year for gaming no doubt.