It's Thursday, March 12, 2020. Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.  E3 is canceled. Due to the extended threat of the coronavirus pandemic, the gaming industry’s biggest event of the year isn’t happening. Please add it to the canceled event list that includes SXSW and Google I/O. As we mentioned when the news broke, there were already several question marks hanging over this year’s show. Earlier this year, Iam8bit, best known for its video game vinyl releases, resigned as E3 creative directors. The production company didn’t give reasons for why it was bowing out, and there were whispers that this would be a very different kind of E3. Last year, an E3 2020 pitch deck was leaked, outlining a "fan, media and influencer festival" that sounded a little different from the usual hands-on areas and industry meetings. Instead, the show would reportedly retool to pull in more of the general public -- and ticket sales. Geoff Keighley, the organizer of The Game Awards and host of the E3 Coliseum event space, announced that he would be skipping the show last month, too, following up with a sober tweet about how this year’s E3 was shaping up. Not to mention, Sony was already no-show. Both the team behind PlayStation and Microsoft are planning standalone events to showcase their new consoles. (There will be a digital event for Microsoft’s E3 news.) You could argue, then, that our team dodged a bullet. But those games will still be announced, and still playable -- somewhere, at some point. It’ll all be in a more piecemeal fashion. -- Mat (View in browser.) Cross-platform play from day one is impressive.  Now that Call of Duty Modern Warfare has a free-to-play battle royale add-on, is it really ready to compete with the champs of the genre? According to Matt Brian, yes. With innovative tweaks on the formula like its “Gulag” 1v1 challenges, bounties on enemy players and an in-game money system that encourages you to hunt for kills, Warzone already has its own flair. Unsurprisingly, it’s already counted six million players in the first 24 hours, and it looks like that number will continue to grow. | | It showed a sports car could be powerful and sustainable.  BMW has sold more than 20,000 i8s since 2014 -- no mean feat considering the $147,500 starting price. The company says that the model outsold all competitors in its class, combined. That said, the i8 is getting long in the tooth. Its core technology is outdated and the company is transitioning to newer designs like the all-electric i4. So after six years of success, the BMW factory in Leipzig, Germany, will halt production of the company's best-selling sports car in April. | | Yahoo is getting in on the mobile business.  Alongside Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance and all the other random things that Yahoo has attached its name to, say hello to Yahoo Mobile. It’s a new mobile carrier that will tout unlimited texts, calls and 4G data, all for the flat fee of $40 a month. The service uses Verizon's network -- Verizon is the parent company of both Yahoo and Engadget -- and comes with the requisite "unlimited" caveats when it comes to usage. Regular download speeds will range between 5-12 Mbps, with upload speeds of around 2-5 Mbps, with slower speeds when carrier traffic is particularly congested. You will be able to tether, which is good news, but that’s limited to one device, and download speeds of 5Mbps. | | Sponsored Content by Stack Commerce | |
