ESA assessing situation for E3 as Los Angeles declares state of emergency

As concerns over the coronavirus have continued to affect events and the travel to and from them, the fate of E3 2020 is becoming a concern for many in the game industry. Though organizing company the ESA is still moving forward with plans to host E3, a recently declared state of emergency in the city of Los Angeles where E3 is held yearly has caused them to take a more cautious approach leading up to the show.

On March 4, 2020, a state of emergency was declared by LA Mayor Eric Garcetti on Facebook, as originally reported by NPR. Though the ESA had mentioned in the past that it intends to go ahead with planning E3 2020, even following the postponing of GDC 2020, the new announcement of the state of emergency in LA pushed the ESA to issue a new statement in regards to concerns over the coronavirus and the situation at hand where E3 takes place.

With GDC being pushed back to the summertime, the coronavirus isn't the only thing ESA needs to be cautious about as the schedule of events in that season become more packed even in lieu of COVID-19.

“The health and safety of our attendees, exhibitors, partners, and staff is our top priority,” The ESA wrote in a statement posted by GamesIndustry.biz. “While the ESA continues to plan for a safe and successful E3 show June 9-11, 2020, we are monitoring and evaluating the situation daily. Our E3 team and partners continue to monitor COVID-19 via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). We are actively assessing the latest information and will continue to develop measures to further reduce health risks at the show.”

It makes sense that E3 wouldn’t be canceled as of yet. With the show still over 3 months out in June, 2020, it’s still far too early to know what the situation will look like at that time. There’s good reason to be cautious. With events like IEM Katowice, EVE Fanfest, and GDC 2020 fully disrupted by concerns over the coronavirus and confirmed cases having recently been uncovered in California, there’s plenty of cause to continue to play it safe while medical research races for a solution in the coronavirus epidemic.

Shacknews will have more on E3 and the concerns around it as further information becomes available.