E3 2020 Cancelled... Is that even a bad thing?

Every year, on a particular weekend in June, I stay up far too late and watch E3. 

I live for the cringe moments, indie game showcases and plane what I will be spending my hard earned pennies on in the following year.

It has been announced today that E3 2020 has been cancelled due to the ever present threat of COVID-19 Coronavirus, a wise move given the sheer volume of people the expo attracts. Whilst I appreciate this is for the safety and well being of all attending, I can't help but be disappointed. In my gut, I feel that we will never see an E3 again.

The expo definitely is not what it used to be, and the Entertainment Software Association has suggested that they will be providing an 'online experience' in order to show off future releases. If this happens, and I can't see a reason that it wouldn't, it is my belief that E3 will go the way of Nintendo Direct and have an online only release and discussion about upcoming games.

As someone who lives in the UK and uses the likes of YouTube and Twitch to stay up to date during the event, it will be pretty much the same for me and a lot of other people like me. Industry wise I am not sure what the impact would be, if any. Surely it is more cost effective for the companies involved to create their own online releases rather than travel to Los Angeles in an attempt to wow crowds with reboots of old IP's that no one asked for (I'm looking at you Skyrim). 

E3, for consumers, is essentially hours and hours of talking about mediocre games and then there is maybe one or two across the entire weekend to be excited about. I think it would make companies really focus on getting gamers excited about new IP's and release the content at a time that is beneficial to them! It may even promote some (more) healthy competition, studios wanting to release new exciting games and not the 100th Battle Royale on the market. 

My main point is E3 being cancelled will force the exhibitors involved to be more creative in presenting information and products to their audience and to the press which in my opinion, is not actually a bad thing.