E3 has been struggling to continue for several years now, opening the long time press-only event to the public in 2017 which has been assumed to offset financial losses the ESA (Electronic Software Association) had experienced. Shortly after this, the Covid-19 pandemic caused massive shutdowns across America causing the event to be canceled in 2020, and be held digitally in 2021 and 2022.
While E3 was stated to be held in person this year, the ESA recently announced that it would be held digitally owing to the surge in Omnicron cases, which has brought Covid-19 infection numbers up drastically. However, shortly after this rumors broke that the switch to digitally was planned prior to this and that the event left the future of the event in question.
Disclaimer – This information has not been verified on our end, therefore we cannot confirm this as factual.
Now Game Industry Insider Jeff Grubb has stated that he has heard that the planned digital event for E3 2022 has also been canceled. If this is true, it would support the rumors that E3 is now past its last legs and most likely going to be ended completely.
For those that have been following E3 over the past few years, this should not be a shock with many companies, most noticeably Sony, dropping out of the event to pursue other ways to interact with consumers. It has been suggested that the event was losing money prior to the onset of Covid-19, which might have been the final nail in the one-time biggest gaming event.
The Video Game Awards host, Geoff Keighley, will also be holding his competing event The Summer Games Fest which has become increasingly popular. It is possible that the ESA has made the decision not to compete, especially given their current situation.
Currently, there has been no statement made by the ESA on this matter, meaning that this should be taken with a grain of salt. As it stands now E3 is scheduled for June as it is every year though no dates have been announced for it.
Source – ResetEra
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