With the world continuing to unravel the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, large gatherings and events of basically any kind have either had to cancel or postpone from 2020. This especially has had effect on events in the games industry such as E3 and Gamescom, while other events have shifted to a virtual setting. Joining this shift is Play NYC, the annual New York City gaming convention that will be holding an online event in place of an in-person gathering this August.

Playcrafting, the organizer of the NYC-based event, announced that this year's Play NYC will be shifting to an online format in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While originally planned to take place over two days this coming August, instead the event will be expanding to run for a full week from August 10-16, 2020, and will be available for free to those that wish to attend (virtually).

Play NYC has been held in New York City since 2017, and features a diverse range of independent developers coming together to show upcoming games and projects, participate in panels and demos, and highlighting the efforts of the game development community in NYC. The event has also been a big supporter of student game development by highlighting student projects from universities and programs both in and outside of New York City.

Alongside the shift to an online format, this year's Play NYC will also be supported for the first time by the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment for promotion. Graffiti Games will also be returning to highlight the efforts of black game developers in the games industry with a special installation curated by Decoy Games, the developers of Swimsanity!.

Play NYC 2020 will run from August 10-16, 2020. To register to attend and find out more about the event, you can head over to their official website.