E3 has been canceled. While that may not come as a major shock to those that have been paying attention to the various events canceled as of late, it does mean that some major announcements may need to be rescheduled, or even worse, may not happen at all. Unfortunately, that may be the case with the rumoredHarry Potter RPG.
Warner Bros., the company behindHarry Potter, Batman,and lots more, was planning a press conference for E3, which will no longer happen due to the coronavirus. Rumors had been spreading that a press conference was set to take place, but Kotaku’s Jason Schreier confirmed the plans on Twitter after the news ofE3’s cancelationbroke.
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The cancelation, unfortunately, means that gamers may not get to see the long-awaited reveal of theHarry Pottergame. Previous rumors indicated that aHarry PotterRPG is in development at Avalancheafter a job listing on the developer’s website indicated that a game announcement from the studio was forthcoming. If a game is ready to be shown off, odds are Warner Bros. will still reveal it, but in a different way – perhaps even its own stream or event.
However, all is not lost quite yet. Currently, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the company behind E3, is coordinating an “online experience” to show off new games and announcements, which could mean that Warner Bros. press conference could live on in a digital format, how many would’ve experienced it in the first place. However, that’s pure speculation and has not been confirmed.
Coronavirus has directly led to the cancelation of many events. TheGame Developer Conference was canceleddue to the disease, and with E3 now called off, any other event planned for the near future seems unlikely to come to fruition. There had been hopes that the virus would slow down in time for E3 in June, but it appears that may no longer be the case.
Luckily, online announcements are becoming increasingly normal, so fans may see aHarry Pottergame this year anyways. Sony was set to skip E3 this year for its own conference yet again, andNintendo has two Directs rumored for March. Online announcements may soon become the norm rather than big trade shoes, and while that has both upsides and downsides, companies have already been stepping away from trade shows.
