San Diego Comic-Con 2020 Canned Over Coronavirus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandmemic has already claimed a large number of 2020's major events and trade shows, and today it claimed one more. The organizers of the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) have announced that the show has been cancelled. Originally, SDCC was slated to take place from July 23rd to the 26th at the San Diego Convention Center.

Comic-Con is one of the largest fan conventions of the year, but given the slate of other event cancellations, the fact that SDCC 2020 has been canned likely won't come as a shock to many. Still, this is a fairly big deal, because this is the first time in the show's 50-year history that it has been cancelled.

"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 show's organizers wrote on the Comic-Con website today. "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."

The show hasn't been postponed, but instead been cancelled outright – SDCC's organizers say that the show will return on July 22nd, 2021. Similarly, WonderCon Anaheim, which was originally slated for earlier this month, will return on March 26th, 2021. Those who purchased a badge or reserved exhibition space for Comic-Con 2020 will have the option of either refunding their purchases or moving them forward to Comic-Con 2021, with details being emailed out to purchasers within the next week.

So, while some organizers have opted to postpone their events or move them to an all-digital format (as Gamescom just announced yesterday), it seems that Comic-Con's organizers thought it was better to just cancel the show entirely and turn their attention to next year.