Our current outbreak of coronavirus has upended nearly everyone’s lives as of late in the name of safety against the highly-spreadable disease. This has led to the immediate halt of numerous public gatherings such as movie theater showings, browsing non-essential retail chains, as well as nearly every big convention event in 2020 thus far. It now looks like fans will be missing out on ComicCon as well as SDCC 2020 has now been officially canceled.

Announced over the event’s website, organizers for the San Diego-held proceedings announced “with deep regret” that no event will be held this year – a first in the event’s 50-year history. Exhibitors and badge-holders for this year’s annual gathering are assured to be informed by email “within the next week” about refunds as well as the extended option to “transfer their payments to Comic-Con 2021.” In addition, onPeak – the official hotel affiliate of SDCC 2020 – is said to be in the process of canceling and refunding all reservations made for the event.

“Recognizing that countless attendees save and plan for its conventions each year, and how many exhibitors and stakeholders rely upon its events for a major portion of their livelihood, they had hoped to delay this decision in anticipation that COVID-19 concerns might lessen by summer,” the statement read. “Continuous monitoring of health advisories and recent statements by the Governor of California have made it clear that it would not be safe to move forward with plans for this year.”

While this year’s plans have been scrapped, organizers have already begun plans for next year’s event, with SDCC 2021 now being dated between July 22nd to July 25th. The 2021 event was supposed to mark the grand opening of the Comic-Con Museum during the summer, but those “major renovations” are said to be getting “rephased” in light of this newly-announced cancellation. The Museum’s planners assured that they “will not scale back the experience” and that new information set to be unveiled sometime “in the coming months.”

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are saddened to take this action, we know it is the right decision,” said event spokesperson David Glanzer. “We eagerly look forward to the time when we can all meet again and share in the community we all love and enjoy.”

What do you think? Are you upset that SDCC has now been cancelled, or do you feel the right decision was made? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter and Facebook to be informed of the latest gaming and entertainment news 24 hours a day! For more headlines recently featured on DFTG, check out these next few news stories:

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