Welcome to Corona-Con 2020!!!
Coronavirus. COVID-19. By now, we’ve all heard of it, and it’s all affected our lives in some way or another. From quarantines to full on lockdowns, grocery stores and drug store shelves being emptied for weeks, people working from home or suddenly not at all – there’s no question this virus has left an impact. One of the largest scale effects of the Coronavirus has been to entertainment, which people are in dire need of now more than ever. This pandemic has affected conventions, video games, film and anime all at once, and unfortunately it shows little signs of slowing. I am here to document exactly how COVID-19 has affected pop culture, and what it could mean for the future.
The first and most noticeable hit taken by the pandemic were conventions. Due to government advisory to avoid large gatherings, conventions like Emerald City Comic Con began bleeding guests, pulling out for fear of infection. As a result, the entire convention was unfortunately postponed until August. But it’s not just the large cons that have been hit by COVID-19. Smaller conventions like Monster Mania have also unfortunately had to postpone until August. And beyond the niche of comic cons, larger sporting events have also been delayed, with the 2020 Summer Olympics being postponed to 2021! Bizarrely enough, this means that the video game Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 2020 will not be related to the actual event, as all the others in the series have. Instead, it will be a monument to an alternate timeline where the Olympics happened when they were supposed to.
Video games are also being affected by the Coronavirus. E3, the nation’s largest video game convention where companies all come together to announce their latest games was also cancelled. This is particularly of note because this cancellation comes in the wake of the disastrous E3 2019, wherein the ESA (the company that runs E3) leaked all their guests personal data, leading to doxing and identity theft of the guests both from 2019 and earlier. That, plus waning interest from Sony and other brands to attend in the first place, opting instead for digital presentations like the Nintendo Direct, could spell the end for this once-great convention. GDC, the Game Developers’ Conference, was also cancelled this year. While this convention isn’t as large as E3, it’s crucial for independent game developers who want to get their projects noticed by publishers. Without that forum, many promising games may go overlooked. Existing games and systems may also be in jeopardy thanks to this pandemic. Masahiro Sakurai, director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, has gone on record saying DLC for the game has been delayed due to Coronavirus. In fact, production of the Nintendo Switch console as a whole has been affected by the disease. Who knows what will happen to the upcoming Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X if things persist as they are?
The film industry has also taken a major hit thanks to the rise of COVID-19. Upcoming James Bond picture, No Time To Die was delayed from April 10th to November 25th. Dozens of other films have been waylaid with unknown release dates. The United States box office recorded the first weekend ever with zero revenue, which has sparked a drastic change in how films are being presented during this time. Films like Pixar’s Onward, which has struggled to make money following the outbreak has been released on streaming services like Disney+ and Amazon Prime to rent while it remains in theaters. Anna and The Invisible Man have also been released on video streaming as they struggle in public. Of particular note is the soon-to-be-released Trolls World Tour, which is set to release April 10th on video-on-demand instead of its planned theatrical release. It will be interesting to see if this business model becomes the norm both during and after this virus runs its course.
Finally, the spread of the Coronavirus has even affected the production of anime, both stateside and at its source in Japan. As COVID-19 worsens in America, FUNimation is adjusting and having their staff work from home to dub the season’s current anime. As a result, the English dubbed versions of My Hero Academia, A Certain Scientific Railgun T, Black Clover and others will be delayed until this shift is finalized. On the manga end of things, publisher SolPress has experienced a major breakdown in production after their printing press was hit with Coronavirus, leaving orders for books from months ago to languish unfulfilled as they attempt to resolve the situation themselves. In Japan, the eagerly awaited second season of Re:Zero has been delayed from an April 2020 premiere to July as Coronavirus has affected production. There’s certainly no question that this disease has rocked the planet, not just on a personal level, but a highly public one as well.
In these trying times, I highly advise everyone to stay inside, enjoy the shows, movies, anime and video games we do have, and remember to wash your hands! We will absolutely get through this, but only if we all work together.
Stay safe! everyone!!
