This year’s BitSummit, the largest indie gaming event that’s held in Japan, has been canceled due to COVID-19 / Coronavirus concerns. The organization that runs the event announced via Twitter earlier today. Yet another victim of the ongoing pandemic that’s affecting the world.
Important information concerning BitSummit The 8th Bit pic.twitter.com/QTWyuvUcn1
— BitSummit (@BitSummit) March 11, 2020
“We would like extend our deepest apologies for this inconvenience to all of our partners, supporters, exhibitors, and long time visitors who were eager to participate in the 8th edition of BitSummit,” read the organization’s official statement.
“We are incredibly thankful for all the incredible support, advice, and encouragement we’ve received from all our partners and patrons. Our plans are to continue working on the next edition of BitSummit, and we will share more information about our plans in the coming weeks.”
Originally, BitSummit 2020 was going to take place from May 9th – 10th, 2020. As you can imagine, like many other organizations, the team that runs BitSummit had been keeping an eye on the ongoing situation. With several other high profile events such as the GDC, and most recently, E3 2020, now being canceled. It was the right thing to do, canceling the event and caring about health concerns.
This cancelation is a huge blow as BitSummit was the place to be to get Indie games seen by the public eye. With this cancelation, smaller devs will have a harder time showcasing their games, which can hurt them financially.
COVID-19 has been rearing its ugly head for a few months now and if you’ve been following the gaming industry (among others) then you’re aware of the number of events already canceled. Slowing down the production of hardware, forcing studios to either close up shop or work from remote locations. Sadly, I doubt we’ve seen the worst of this potential world crippling epidemic and I’d just wish we could all wake up and it would be over.
