San Diego Comic-Con, E3, and Anime Expo canceled geek gatherings for the second year in a row

San Diego Comic-Con Just announced This year’s show will not run, at least not in person. For the second time in 50 years – it was the first year – Comic-Con has been canceled due to the COVID-19 epidemic. There will still be a virtual event from July 23 to 25, and organizers are planning a temporarily scheduled three-day in-person conference for November, but they are clear that it has been completely postponed until 2022 – and refunds have been made. Rollover as offered and appropriate.

And it’s not the only big California geek gathering that’s not going to happen: Los Angeles Department of Convention & Tourism Have filed documents (PDF)

It shows that the largest American video game and anime shows – E3 and Anime Expo – have also eaten in-person innings (via) please reset And Kotku) Belongs to.

E3 typically draws upwards of 60,000 attendees while Animo Expo can draw over 100,000, so they are big losses for tourism that the city will be discussing later this week.

Keep in mind, the Entertainment Software Association running E3 had already indicated that it would “convert” its showcase, so a virtual event wouldn’t be too surprising. Anime Expo held A successful virtual event last year That attracted 500,000 viewers, and it seems unlikely that the organizers will try again. Neither E3 nor Anime Expo organizers have technically confirmed that their events are yet to take place in person, but the city will find out. An ESA spokesman will only confirm that they are replacing “E3”, and that “we will have official details very soon.”