If you were expecting to gather together with your friends for this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, well, you might want to cancel that hotel booking.
The Electronic Software Association (ESA for short) has confirmed in a recent statement that the show will be going completely digital for the third year in a row. This is due to concerns surrounding the growing COVID-19 variant, Omicron.
“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,” the company noted. “We are nonetheless excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.”
There were talks that the ESA was trying to look over a new venue for the show outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center following its return. However, with it reverting to digital, those plans will likely remain on hold for the imminent future.
The last couple of years have been pretty good for digital presentations, with other companies hosting showcases on the official E3 channel and getting fairly good audience responses. On top of that, Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest will likely return for the summer as well, with its handful of games to show off, as well as exclusives.
Now the only real question is what other shows will be affected by the ongoing Omicron crisis. PAX East was scheduled to make a return this April, but those plans could be foiled given the growth of COVID cases. And other shows could run into problems as well, such as PAX West and San Diego Comic-Con.
More details on the plans for E3 2022 are expected in the months ahead.
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