Though it’s hard to say if coronavirus will still be a concern that far forward, the Minecraft team says planning is next to impossible amid the chaos. With various partners, exhibitors, and producers faced with a loss in productivity, working towards an event in September has proved too difficult. “Right now we can’t meet and collaborate in the way we need to. Without knowing exactly when we can resume planning, we have decided to postpone,” the company explained. “That way, we can make sure that next year’s event will be the amazing one that our community expects and deserves.” As with Microsoft’s other events, this won’t affect the streamed portion. That means Minecraft Live (formerly MINECON Live) will still go ahead, with the relevant news and announcements. A date for this is yet to be announced. The cancellation of the festival will, of course, be met with shock and sadness from the community, especially considering tickets only launched a week ago. However, this outcome is admittedly better than a Fyre Festival-type disaster where Microsoft can’t provide basic amenities or entertainment for its fans. Microsoft has already canceled several legs of its Ignite Tour, in Zurich and Hong Kong. It also dropped out the IoT Action event and GDC 2020, while Build 2020 could potentially be axed too. Currently, the official Minecraft Festival website lists the next event as Fall 2021, which would basically mean it’s been pushed back an entire year. We’ll just have to wait and see if Microsoft announced any changes to that as the outlook on coronavirus becomes clear.
