Indie expo EGX Rezzed has been postponed until later this year.
Originally scheduled for March 26-28th, 2020, organisers ReedPop – the parent company of Gamer Network – has confirmed the show has been pushed back until the summer.
“Having monitored the situation around COVID-19 constantly over these last few weeks and following many hours of conversation internally and with our partners, we have taken the incredibly difficult decision to move EGX: Rezzed to Summer 2020 with date and announcement forthcoming,” ReedPop said in a statement (thanks, Eurogamer).
“We did everything that we could to try to run the event as planned, but ultimately, maintaining social distancing is neither feasible at, nor in the spirit of, the interactive and community nature of Rezzed. It is the community that makes Rezzed so special and it is our duty to make sure that your safety comes first.”
And EGX Rezzed is postponed until summer, huge sympathies to all those involved and attending. https://t.co/5jjukm12pI
— MCV/DEVELOP (@MCV_DEVELOP) March 13, 2020
“Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by the COVID-19 virus in what is an incredibly challenging time, and we remain determined to run EGX: Rezzed in 2020 for everyone who has looked forward to and wants to attend the show.”
If you had tickets for the March show, they will still be valid for the rescheduled event. Reedpop’s MCM Birmingham – which was scheduled to take place 21st-22nd March – has also been rescheduled to June 27th-28th.
Less than a week ago, organisers of E3 – the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) – insisted it was continuing to “plan for a safe and successful” show later this year whilst “actively assessing” the coronavirus outbreak. Now E3 2020 has been cancelled.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) has also been indefinitely postponed, and while attendees can expect a refund in full and those who had made hotel reservations via the organisation will be able to cancel without penalty, developers who’ve arranged their own accommodation might still be open to cancellation fees. A number of publishers have teamed up to create GDC Relief Fund to assist indie devs who may have lost money on paying in advance for the now-cancelled GDC.
Kojima Productions, Sony, EA, and Facebook – which owns Oculus – first pulled out of GDC, as did Microsoft, Epic, and Unity. The city of San Francisco – the city that was set to host the upcoming GDC conference next month – had also declared a “local health emergency” over coronavirus. A state of emergency has also be declared in Los Angeles.
BAFTA has confirmed it’s revising the format on its upcoming Games Awards in light of the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), too. In a brief statement to press the organisers said the show would change from a “red carpet ceremony” to an online livestream broadcast on the same day as the original live show: Thursday, April 2nd, 2020.
