The annual trade and met up of the video game industry, the Electronic Entertainment Expo commonly referred to as E3 is once again going to be an online-only event in 2022.
According to a statement from its organizers, The Electronic Software Association (ESA), the annual event is returning as an online-only format for the second time in a row due to ”ongoing health risks surrounding COVID-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees.”
Since last month, the latest Omicron variant of Covid19 has been spreading worldwide rapidly causing disruption in services and business at large. While the latest spread isn’t as deadly as before, the virus is spreading very quickly and the USA is reporting 700K avg cases daily.
The latest spread of Omicron cases has forced all events to reschedule or move to an online-only format. Starting with the CES 2022 in Las Vegas, where we saw many major technology companies pulling out of the in-person event and instead opting to host virtual shows to announce new products.
After the cancellation of 2020’s E3 event and moving 2021’s E3 to an online-only format, the ESA had previously said that in 2022 they will return to an in-person event. While ESA did not reveal any plans for this year’s event and only said that they are “nonetheless excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.”
It is unclear just what kind of future E3 holds after all is said and done. With the 3rd time cancellation of an in-person event, the ESA is again going to miss a major source of its revenue for 3rd year in a row. Plus the increased competition from independent publisher events and Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest has been chugging away from the potential revenue of ESA every year.
