#ESA Cancels E3 2022 In-Person Event, Status Of Virtual Event Unknown

The Entertainment Software Association, the trade and lobbying organization behind the E3 video game industry trade show has confirmed via IGN in a prepared statement that it has decided to cancel this year’s installment of E3, owing to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and the continued strain being placed upon the industry as a result. The abbreviated statement follows below:

“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 remain incredibly excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.”

The ESA held E3 2021 as a virtual event last June, but it was held without industry heavyweights Sony, who chose to hold their own standalone online events. Much of the industry followed Sony’s lead in holding online events without the involvement of the ESA or E3, which resulted in much chatter regarding future viability and the increasing loss of relevance the tradeshow faced. 

Even without the shock of a global pandemic severely affecting the ESA’s trade show business, E3 was already facing questions regarding its future long before COVID-19 threw live events into doubt. Without concrete follow-up details of a virtual event to replace the now canceled in-person trade show, E3 as a trade show may have had its last hurrah in 2019, with no one realizing it at the time.

SOURCE: IGN, ESA Official Site