Think of this as the other shoe that drops. Nearly three months after deciding to make the E3 gaming conference an all-digital event, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has called off the entire deal.
The news first came via industry insider Will Powers, PR manager for the Americas for popular gaming gear company Razer. He tweeted the news of the apparent cancellation on Thursday:
Just got an email... It's official, Digital E3 is officially canceled for 2022. Lots of mixed feelings about it... March 31, 2022
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And now it has been confirmed by the ESA, which sent TechRadar this statement: "We previously announced that E3 would not take place in person in 2022 due to the continued health risks of COVID-19. Today, we announced that there will be no E3 digital showcase in 2022".
That's the bad new. The good news is that starting today, ESA plans to bring E3 back to 2023. The organization told TechRadar, "E3 will return in 2023 with a reinvigorated showcase celebrating new games, exciting videos and industry innovations." .
ESA added that it will "devote all its energy and resources to delivering a revitalized physical and digital E3 experience next summer."
It's been a rough few years for E3. Due to the pandemic, it canceled the event in 2020, successfully held an all-digital event last year, but was forced to cancel the in-person festivities again for 2022 due to the rise of Omicron.
While we are mostly through this wave of COVID variants, the ESA has made another difficult decision for the once-boisterous event (66,000 attendees in 2019), also ending the digital experience.
The loss of even one virtual event could be a tough pill to swallow for gamers who see it as more than just a trade show. As TRG's Vic Hood wrote when E3 canceled this year's in-person event:
" has become a celebration of gaming: the media is there to report on the biggest games yet to come, while the fans are there to get their hands on the latest releases and be among like-minded people. Just I can describe it as a paradise for gamers".
This is not, according to the ESA, the end of E3, and it's already been through some tough times. In 2016, several major game studios, including EA and Activision Blizzard, pulled out of the series and hosted their own game showcases nearby. Also, interest has gone up and down between new console releases and major title releases.
E3 generally bounced back and looked solid until the pandemic, when virtually all in-person trade shows around the world were canceled or moved to virtual events.
At the time of writing this article, the ESA has not updated its social networks or its news blog, although we assume that this will be the case soon. Notably, the E3 Twitter account page still bears the E3 2021 logo and hasn't posted anything about a status change for the event.
The official E3 page says "E3 2022 See you next year," without any irony that we're already well into 2022. E3 newsletter subscribers receive a welcome message that always includes "E3 2021" in the header. .