Leading up to E3 2020's cancelation, many attendees announced that they would not be attending the event. They'd instead opt for an all-digital alternative or other plans. Bethesda had remained dedicated to E3 all the way up until the end, leaving its previously announced plans for another Bethesda E3 showcase up in the air. Those plans have now been canceled.

In a tweet, Bethesda communications guru Pete Hines confirmed that all plans for June digital game showcase were now canceled. This "E3" showcase had been confirmed as recently as early March, though clearly a lot has happened since then. According to Hines, Bethesda still plans to share more about its games "in the coming months."

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The reason for Bethesda canceling its June plans is cited as, understandably, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The novel coronavirus was the reason for E3's cancellation in the first place and now it's forcing publishers and studios to reevaluate all of their 2020 plans overall. It has to be incredibly challenging putting together an E3 digital showcase while the status of your games' development isn't stable.

Bethesda had previously confirmed two specific games that would be featured at E3 2020. Those games being Deathloop from Arkane Studios and GhostWire: Tokyo from Tango Gameworks, developer of The Evil Within. There was some speculation about whether Bethesda Studios' next game, Starfield, would or would not be at E3. It was never confirmed.

As for whether the next Elder Scrolls game was planned to be shown in some capacity at E3 2020, the world will now never know. The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced with a teaser trailer at E3 2018, but was absent from E3 2019. It's still likely years away, with Bethesda still focusing on Starfield, but even a teaser would have likely brought the house down -- even digitally.

elder scrolls 6 logo

Many video game fans were hoping that instead of E3 2020 itself, publishers would group together to put on some sort of digital convention. E3 doesn't have to happen to build E3 levels of excitement and hype. With Bethesda canceling all plans for a June digital showcase, theories about a special June event take a hit. Other publishers may still come together, but Bethesda's flat refusal shows that creating any sort of digital E3 is not at all on the minds of some. And perhaps that's for the best.

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