E3 will once again be an online-only event, as organising body the Entertainment Software Association has now confirmed. The group cites continued concerns around COVID-19 outbreaks as the reason, though the Consumer Electronics Show has gone ahead in Las Vegas this week. The Game Developers Conference is still scheduled to take place in San Francisco this March.
“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 ESA says in a statement provided to GamesBeat. “We are nonetheless excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.”
Geoff Keighley took the opportunity for one of his now-trademark cheeky jabs at modern E3, reminding the world that “Summer Game Fest returns summer 2022” in a tweet. The event had already been confirmed ahead of The Game Awards in December, and there are certainly more places than E3 to get your mid-summer gaming announcements these days.
Aside from Keighley, some in the industry remain skeptical as to whether E3’s online-only nature is indeed a safety concern, or an indication of the event’s decreasing relevance.
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) January 6, 2022
Upcoming PC games will not stop coming, at least, regardless of the future of the industry’s trade shows.