Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been no shortage of cancellations for conferences, conventions, and expos. Though many of them have shifted over to virtual presentations, normal has been slow to return. Despite this, one of the biggest trade events in the electronics industry has officially cancelled everything for 2022.
Will Powers, the PR lead for Razer and formerly of TenCent, PlayStation, and Deep Silver confirmed E3 2022’s cancellation.
IGN verified the news. This marks the second time in three years that the event has been cancelled, the first being in 2020 due to COVID-19. While there was a virtual conference in 2021, that is apparently off the tables this year as well. At the moment, there is no official word as to why. The Entertainment Software Association which is responsible for holding the event was vague throughout the previous year as to whether a virtual event was going to happen after a cancellation of a planned physical E3 conference was announced earlier in 2022.
It’s worth noting that two of the biggest names in gaming have turned away from E3 in favor of direct presentations. Nintendo started this trend with Nintendo Direct, forgoing E3 since 2013. Sony followed suit in 2019, opting instead to go with a PlayStation State of Play. With that lack of name power, how much does E3 truly have to offer these days compared to years prior?
Will the ESA announce plans to continue E3 going forward? Once we have word as to why they shuttered the 2022 conference and what the future of the trade event looks like, we’ll be sure to update.
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