Riley Reviews: COVID-19's Effect on Gaming
By Riley Fink
By Riley Fink
The video game industry is in a very strange spot currently, as COVID-19 has affected it extremely both positively and negatively. Games in development like The Last of Us Part 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 have seen delays as the developers get used to working from home. Major gaming events like E3 and Evo have been cancelled. Yet the industry as a whole is booming, with Final Fantasy VII Remake and Animal Crossing New Horizons breaking sales records for their respective consoles. The demand is so high, the Nintendo Switch is seeing its first console shortage since its launch in 2017, matching the sale speed of the highest selling Nintendo console, the Wii.
Due to this shortage, we’re left wondering how much COVID-19 will end up affecting the new console generation launching this holiday, the as of yet unrevealed Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X. So far all we can do is speculate, though initial reports from Sony and Microsoft seem positive, as they’re still aiming for that holiday launch window.
The cancellation of E3 in particular, the Christmas of video game announcements, has brought into question its necessity in the industry. In the 90s, your only option to show off new games was at E3, and as the internet progressed, it became less and less important. Now that the convention is actually gone for the year, and developers still seem set to show off games and new consoles in June, it seems like E3 is no longer necessary.
The other nail in E3’s coffin seems to be from Geoff Keighley of “The Game Awards” fame. Keighley has brought together dozens of developers under the umbrella of a new event, Summer Game Fest. The festival isn’t much other than a name for developers to use while they reveal their products this summer, which seems to be the exact same purpose for E3 in current year. Personally I would miss E3 as such a big event in the year, and if Summer Game Fest replaces it, the best one week in gaming each year gets stretched out to several months. Regardless, the big announcements of this festival have yet to happen so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Due to this shortage, we’re left wondering how much COVID-19 will end up affecting the new console generation launching this holiday, the as of yet unrevealed Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X. So far all we can do is speculate, though initial reports from Sony and Microsoft seem positive, as they’re still aiming for that holiday launch window.
The cancellation of E3 in particular, the Christmas of video game announcements, has brought into question its necessity in the industry. In the 90s, your only option to show off new games was at E3, and as the internet progressed, it became less and less important. Now that the convention is actually gone for the year, and developers still seem set to show off games and new consoles in June, it seems like E3 is no longer necessary.
The other nail in E3’s coffin seems to be from Geoff Keighley of “The Game Awards” fame. Keighley has brought together dozens of developers under the umbrella of a new event, Summer Game Fest. The festival isn’t much other than a name for developers to use while they reveal their products this summer, which seems to be the exact same purpose for E3 in current year. Personally I would miss E3 as such a big event in the year, and if Summer Game Fest replaces it, the best one week in gaming each year gets stretched out to several months. Regardless, the big announcements of this festival have yet to happen so we’ll just have to wait and see.