Japan’s biggest indie games expo is cancelled

Japan’s leading independent games development expo, BitSummit, will reportedly no longer go ahead as planned due to concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19).

That’s according to Takuya Aizu, president of Japanese developer Inti Creates, who tweeted to say May’s event has been cancelled or postponed.

“Due to the impact of COVID-19, this year’s Bitsummit has been discontinued or postponed,” he said.

“Following the Taipei Game Show and the GDC, it is quite sad that there is no chance to announce new games.”

UPDATE: BitSummit has confirmed this year’s event is cancelled.

ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES: BitSummit’s organisers have yet to announce plans to cancel the show, which is still officially scheduled to take place at the Miyako Messe convention centre in Kyoto from May 9-10.

VGC has contacted BitSummit for comment on the status of this year’s event.

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has led to the cancellation of almost every major video game event planned for the first half of 2020, most notably the Game Developers Conference and SXSW.

E3 2020 is also set to be officially cancelled on Wednesday amid concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to multiple sources.

Speaking to VGC last year, Inti Creates boss Aizu said Sony and Microsoft must learn from Nintendo Switch’s positioning as a unique hardware offering with PS5 and Xbox Series X, and that the success of the new consoles will depend heavily on their exclusive titles.

Check out VGC’s coverage of BitSummit 2019 here.