E3 cancelled: World’s biggest gaming event axed because of coronavirus, reports say

Virtual Clubbing from Redpill VR, a social music experience platform, at the 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as E3, opening in Los Angeles, California on June 11, 2019 (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

E3, the world's biggest games conference, is about to be cancelled, according to reports.

The Los Angeles event is just the latest to be pulled amid fears around the coronavirus, with organisers and officials cancelling large gatherings in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease.

The decision to cancel the event has already been announced, according to reports from Bloomberg and Ars Technica. It is expected to be announced officially later in the day.

The reports come after developer Devolver Digital gave rise to cancellation rumours by tweeting a suggestion that the conference was off. "Cancel your E3 flights and hotels, y’all," it wrote on Twitter, just hours before the more official reports.

E3 – officially called the "Electronic Entertainment Expo" and organised by the Entertainment Software Association – brings some 70,000 people to Los Angeles to hear announcements about new and upcoming games, and play them.

E3 2020 was expected to be especially filled with announcements as it will be the last of the events before the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are launched at the end of this year.

PlayStation had already said it would not participate in the event, for the second year in a row, though developers will nonetheless expected to give news on games for the new console.

E3 is just the latest tech and gaming event to be pulled because of fears it could help the spread of coronavirus. Many of the world's biggest companies – from Facebook to Google – use this time of year to hold major launch events that have been cancelled this year, and the Games Developers Conference has already been axed.