QuakeCon 2020 Canceled Due To The Coronavirus

QuakeCon, the long-running annual convention held by video game investor ZeniMax Media to promote its subsidiaries’ projects, has been canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Bethesda Softworks and id Software announced in a statement on Twitter.

“In recent weeks we have spent a lot of time discussing how we might still move forward with QuakeCon this year, particularly given that it’s the 25th year of the event,” the statement reads. “However, with all of the logistical challenges and uncertainties we currently face due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s QuakeCon.

“The health and safety of our employees, volunteers, vendors, sponsors, and players will always be our top priority, and in these times it felt wrong to be talking about a gathering when gathering is the last thing any of us should be doing right now.”

QuakeCon, which has been running since the ’90s, was scheduled to take place from August 6-9 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Texas this year. But with social distancing mandates extending until the end of April, QuakeCon’s organizers didn’t think it was possible to “complete the work and planning with partners, vendors, volunteers, and others that is required to make QuakeCon a success.”

Despite its cancellation, the event’s organizers are brainstorming “other ways to celebrate the spirit of QuakeCon this August.” QuakeCon is slated to return as a full event next year.

A ton of announcements tends to come out of QuakeCon every year, especially those related to Doom, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Quake. Last year’s convention unveiled more information about both Fallout 76 and Doom Eternal, which we awarded an 8/10 in our official review.

QuakeCon isn’t the only event to have been canceled due to the coronavirus. A swath of other gatherings–such as Combo Breaker, E3, Gamescom, and many more–have also been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.