It’s truly a sad day for gaming fans all over Southeast Asia who want to make a yearly pilgrimage to Singapore.

The inaugural edition of Gamescom Asia is pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The show was originally scheduled from 15th October to 18th October, but has been delayed to 14th to 17th October 2021. The venue will be the same: at Singapore’s Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Here’s the official statement from Koelnmesse Singapore managing director Mathis Kuepper (ie: the folks behind Gamescom Asia):

“[The global pandemic has forced us to] adapt and refocus our efforts on 2021. Moreover, for an inaugural event, we felt it was important to give the regional gaming community and fans the full experience of what an international event of this scale would be like and not anything less.”

Despite some countries recovering from the pandemic, Kuepper added that the show’s stakeholders, partners, and even the Singapore government agree that the world is “not situationally ready for this to happen”. We saw this coming a mile away ever since the offline Gamescom event was cancelled, but it’s still a bummer.

Fear not, as Gamescom 2020: The Heart Of Gaming digital expo is still a-go this August. At the very least, you’ll still get your hot gaming announcements and playthroughs through the comforts of your own home.