News
E3 Game Show Cancels 2022 Event
posted on by Alex Mateo
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) revealed to IGN on Thursday that it has canceled this year's E3 event, and there will not be an in-person or digital component. The ESA revealed that E3 will return in 2023 with "a reinvigorated showcase" "live from Los Angeles." The ESA plans to "focus its resources" on the 2023 show.
The ESA had announced the cancellation of the in-person E3 event in January due to "health risks surrounding" the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). At the time, the trade association did not yet have plans for a digital/virtual event for E3.
IGN previously reported in January that it has confirmed from multiple sources "tied to E3" that the ESA had already made the decision to not hold an in-person event "possibly as far back" as fall 2021. The news site also confirmed with industry sources that companies had not heard about plans for any E3 event, whether physical or digital, even if such plans would have typically been revealed by that point in prior years. According to IGN, the Los Angeles Convention Center never put the E3 2022 show in its show calendar, despite shows in past years already being on the convention center's schedule over a year in advance.
The ESA held last year's E3 as a "reimagined" virtual event in June 2021, after canceling its in-person event in February earlier that year. The ESA canceled the physical E3 2020 event, and did not hold an online event that year.
The Los Angeles Convention Center also hosts Anime Expo, typically less than a month after E3. Anime Expo previously announced last year that it will return as a physical in-person event on July 1-4 this year, but it will require attendees to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken 72 hours prior to attending the event.
Source: IGN (Rebekah Valentine)
