Video game convention Super MAGFest announced the cancellation of their upcoming 2021 convention due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

In an official blogpost from MAGFest, they cite the current status of the ongoing pandemic as a reason to cancel their convention that was originally scheduled for January.

MAGFest (which stands for Music and Gaming Festival) is a yearly convention that began in 2002 in Roanoke, Virginia before moving to the Washington metropolitan area.

“We know many of you saw this coming. Like you, we also held out hope for good news, a vaccine, anything that would mean we’d be able to Super MAG together safely in January. That hasn’t happened. The last six months have been devastating, and we hate to add one more thing to your List of Events Cancelled by COVID, but, here we are. For the first time in our 18-year history, we will not be able to put on the greatest weekend of music and gaming for the community we love. There will be no in-person Super MAGFest in January 2021.

Taking a year off from an in-person MAGFest is not something we take lightly. All year, we look forward to the chance to see our friends, have fun, and immerse ourselves in gaming, music, DeVito shrines, and everything in between. The proceeds from Super MAGFest go towards covering event costs, paying our employees, and nurturing our communities across MAGWest, MAGStock, Bitgen, and other events. Without Super in 2021, it’s difficult to predict what our organization’s future will look like.”

As recently as August 25th, MAGFest had not made any formal decision regarding the status of the convention before finally deciding to cancel it on September 8th.

Due to the lack of revenue caused by Super MAGFest’s cancellation, MAGFest announced a retro-style “telethon” to be hosted on Twitch to solicit donations. The “MAG Telethon” will broadcast September 13th at 12pm EST.

Image: MAGFest