Coronavirus is the most searched topic nowadays because of the effect it’s leaving on human lives all around the world. Moreover, the effect can be seen in the tech industry as well because of many big tech events cancellation. Earlier, we discussed how Novel Coronavirus has affected the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2020 that is one of the largest for the video game sector.

Be it any sports event, awards ceremony, tech events, the famous festival gatherings, Novel Coronavirus has stumbled upon the entire world. This has led event cancellations & clearly the tech industry has been affected by big time.

The new product launchings for all those companies have either been postponed or been canceled altogether. The predictions made by the companies have been shelved due to this deadly virus that’s been stopping people to come together in a gathering.

World Health Organization (WHO)

“If you want someone to believe something; write the quote, and back it up with Benjamin Franklin’s name”

This means you need to back up your statements with some authenticity because people aren’t still categorizing Coronavirus as a deadly virus.

The largest entity to be concerned with the world public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic.

“WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.”

A pandemic can be described as “not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.”

E3 Cancellation

Before 24-36 hours, there were speculations for the expo whether it will happen or not considering the precautions taken by ESA. However, it didn’t plan out as they thought and eventually decided to cancel the event and I’d say that’s a good decision. Keeping in mind the world effect of Coronavirus, ESA has canceled the largest video game industry event 2020.

 

The Association stated, “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.”

The Effect of COVID-19 on the Tech Industry

Obviously, the tech companies plan for months to construct the road map & decide what to launch or introduce at such events that viewers will go gaga over it. But this time, every one of them had to shelf their launching due to event cancelation. We can experience the trends in the market where some of the mobile manufacturers are lowering down the cellphone price because of too much stock. It has literally disrupted the industry because a number of tech giants are directly connected to China for product shipments.

Tech Industry Plan of Action

Since the big events have been canceled, the companies can’t showcase their products/services as they thought. However, they are trying to fight the obstacles and coming up with new ways to get the products/services introduced to the market.

A widely popular and one of the most valuable brands in the world, Microsoft’s Xbox has a lot to offer.

The product is all about the gaming experience and the company was planning to introduce the next generation of gaming, however, it didn’t pan out.

To make things smoother for the users and viewers, the Head of Xbox (Phil Spencer) announced on Twitter that the company will have an Xbox DIGITAL EVENT this year.

“E3 has always been an important moment for Team Xbox.  Given this decision, this year we’ll celebrate the next generation of gaming with the Xbox community and all who love to play via an Xbox digital event.  Details on timing and more in the coming weeks.”

Similarly, Ubisoft (a French video game company) is also disappointed with the E3 event cancellation, however, it fully supports the cancelation decision by ESA. The company took it to Twitter and posted a picture with the plan of action for events.

Will Digital Events Shape The Future of Tech Events?

Since the companies are trying to switch to digital events it seems like the movement has been started. I believe it’s a spark that will bloom into digital events being the next big thing for all the companies for future references.

I don’t know if this is a good thing or not but eventually the digital events are going to lower the importance & necessity of events like Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Mobile World Congress (MWC), or Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 2020).

Wrapping Up

Though there are obstacles in your way, you find another way if the outcome means everything to you. In this event cancellation case due to COVID-19, Phil went another way to connect with the users. He believes in “When everybody plays, we all win” & there is no way he was going to abandon his belief.

So let’s get ready to experience & play via Microsoft’s Xbox digital event soon. The date & time details are to be finalized soon.