Report: E3 2022 Scraps Its In-Person Plans As It Plans For Online-Only Show Later This Year

While 2020 welcomed the novel coronavirus as global society did not know how to react to the ailment, events shuttered its plans that year with its crosshairs for a better chance in 2021. In that, the Electronic Software Association (ESA) told it will introduce a “reimagined” E3 come June last summer. And while hopes were high for a drastic change in how organizers planned the event, it simply resulted being hosted in an online structure.

Following, claims arose of online admission being charged for users planning to view and attend E3 in 2021. But, the ESA swiftly intervened on the rumors debunking the story. The ESA went on to build an in-house application and hub for E3 for attendees and media to chime into the respected shows at the time which showed progress on the event.

But now in 2022, the show is to further host its event online. “The Entertainment Software Association looks forward to coming back together to celebrate E3 2022 in person,” the group said back in April. But, the organizer in a statement to VentureBeat explained the ongoing impact set by COVID-19 is to blame for the decision this year.

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. We are nonetheless excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.

On the other hand whilst the ESA is planning its next event for this June presumably, Geoff Keighley is also orchestrating the third annual Summer Game Fest later this year as well. Already, the website for the event has gone live this week. Details on the show has yet to be disclosed as of writing.

In relevance to Keighley’s shows, he recently released the reception for 2021’s The Game Awards. From that, the annual awards ceremony was met with record activity on Twitter and viewer votes. Viewership via YouTubewas at its highest as well at 1.75 Million hours. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you interested for the direction that E3 is heading?

Source: VentureBeat