Gamesindustry.biz reports that Gamescom -- Europe's largest gaming event, will now officially shift to an online model after the German government put a ban on all social and major gathering events until at least August 31.

Gamescom was set to happen from August 22 for a week until August 29. This will be the first Gamescom we haven't attended in seven years (in a row), while this year's E3 will be the first we've missed in 18 years (which includes the E3 'missing' year (so 19 all up). And at this pace, we also expect Tokyo Game Show to be cancelled.

Organisers of Gamescom have said the event will continue in an online capacity stating from the event's Twitter account that "Gamescom 2020 will definitely take place digitally! We will provide further information shortly". so that's an obvious "watch this space" revelation.

Problematically, logistics about how this will work, even remotely, might prove more difficult than doing it live. Moreover, games are dropping like flies in the development schedule space, so there might still be a number of games that *would* have been ready for Gamescom, no longer on schedule for information-sharing, though we hope most development outfits have worked out how to work from home effectively.

We'll stay tuned to this as part of the Gamescom press manifest and let you know what comes through the old wireless as soon as the update us.