In what seems to be unsurprising news for the day, the organisers of the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) have now announced this year’s iteration of the event has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tokyo Game Show 2020 was scheduled to run from September 24 to 27 at the Makhuhari Messe convention centre, but now they’re planning to move the event online.

The TGS has been running every year since 1996, and this is a first for the event to be cancelled. But considering the pandemic we are all facing globally, it comes as no surprise. With even E3, Gamescom, SXSW, GDC and a whole host of gaming conferences cancelled, it was hard to imagine TGS 2020 running as normal.

The thing about TGS 2020 though, is that it would’ve been the last major gaming show before next-gen console become the norm this Holidays 2020. We probably would’ve gotten even better looks at the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X at the event, along with their games, but now, we’ll never know. Until the online event happens, that is.

Either way, as unsurprising as it is, it’s still a sudden brush with reality. Even with the event being in September, we’re all still going to face the impact of the coronavirus for the next year at least. Hopefully, by then the coronavirus is eradicated, but for now, we’ll just have to stay cautious, safe, and adhere to SOPs around Malaysia and worldwide.