New York Comic Con officially announced it’s physically canceled for 2020. However, ReedPop’s NYCC will be partnering with YouTube for a purely digital event – the New York Comic Con Metaverse – to be held October 8 through October 11th. NYCC is following in the footsteps of the San Diego Comic-Con which replaced its physical event with the 2020 Comic-Con@Home, a virtual version featuring film and television panels and hosted on YouTube.
New York Comic Con held out longer than most anticipated before making the big announcement. The cancellation was expected as gathering 200,000 people inside of a convention center during the Covid-19 pandemic isn’t a responsible move. Given the number of people who attend, logistically it would be impossible to enforce social distancing inside the Javits Center and other nearby facilities.
“We are thoroughly disappointed that we can’t gather together, in-person for the New York Comic Con we love to build and our fans love to revel in. We look forward to this weekend all year long, just like you, and with this being our 15th edition, we were particularly excited. I will miss walking up and down artist alley and seeing friends that I’ve made since we were in the basement at the Javits Center,” stated Lance Fensterman, President of ReedPop. “While this year will definitely be a different experience, we are going to look to bring the best and most engaging event to our fans, exhibitors, and studios through our partnership with YouTube.”
It appears the NYCC learned from San Diego Comic-Con’s virtual experiment. While the SDCC turned off the chat features and supplied mostly pre-taped panels, NYCC is promising a more interactive fan experience.
Per NYCC:
“The New York Comic Con YouTube channel will exclusively live stream panels from leading entertainment brands. Starz will bring the epic American Gods, CBS All Access will feature the legendary Star Trek Universe, DreamWorks Animation will showcase the best of television animation, and Hulu & FX will add to the slate of exciting programming for fans worldwide. More news will be made in the coming weeks about content including premieres, announcements, fan contests and more.
In addition to the panels streaming live & on-demand exclusively via YouTube, fans will be able to participate in talent Q&A’s during panels, turn every panel into a watch party and geek out with other fans using YouTube’s Community and Live Chat features.
ReedPop will also give fans the opportunity for experiences that will get them up-close and personal with meet & greets, live Q&As, personalized autographs, videos, and professional workshops. And while fans won’t be able to stroll the Show Floor and Artist Alley aisles at Javits this year, ReedPop is creating a virtual marketplace for fans to explore where exhibitors and creators will share their newest items. There will be more information on these exciting fan developments unveiled in the coming weeks.”
