Posted in: E3, Events, Games, Video Games | Tagged: covid-19, e3, E3 2022
E3 Announces Shift To Online-Only Event For 2022 Due To COVID-19
The summer gaming convention E3 has already confirmed that they will be switching over to an online-only event in 2022 due to COVID-19. With the Omicron variant making its way across the United States and case numbers spiking, people have been asking how this will impact the 2022 conventions as people were slowly getting back to some form of normality. GamesBeat decided to contact ESA officials ahead of time about the event and got the response below, which broke the news.
"Due to the ongoing health risks surrounding COVID-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees, E3 will not be held in person in 2022," the ESA said in a statement to GamesBeat. "We remain incredibly excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon." […] Asked to clarif if there will be an online event, the ESA said it is "excited about the possibilities of an online event."
The response shouldn't surprise anyone at this point as it was pretty clear from early reports that the city of Los Angeles was already having concerns over what was going to happen with the Super Bowl this year in SoFi Stadium after they put up new regulations. (Unsurprisingly, the NFL is looking for a new location in a state with more laxxed regulations, which E3 cannot do since they're tied to the Los Angeles Convention Center.) More than likely, E3 2022 will look a lot like E3 2021 did in that they will be presenting a number of showcases run by other people.
As to who will show under their banner is going to be an entirely different story since Summer Games Fest already announced it's coming back, several studios do their own thing (Devolver Digital, Square Enix), and all the people who, to be blunt, can't afford or don't wish to spend money being under the E3 banner (or anyone else's), will do their own thing outside the norm. It'll be an interesting next five months for sure.