The Entertainment Software Association has just confirmed what had been feared for a few weeks now: E3 of 2022 will be held in full digital mode due to the Omicron variant which started the fourth wave of the pandemic. The announcement can only be bittersweet, but it has been in the air for some time now, also given the number of companies that have canceled their physical presence at CES this year.
E3 2022 will be fully digital
Also this year we will have to give up the physical pavilions of E3, given that the variant Omicron, both here in Europe and in America, is becoming more and more a serious concern that is difficult to resolve quickly. Here is what the organizers of the event said:
“Due to the ongoing health risks related to Covid-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees, E3 2022 will not be held in attendance. However, we are excited about the future of E3 and can’t wait to announce new details soon ”.
An understandable choice, even if painful: on the other hand ESA executives had declared last year that 2022 could have been the year of the great return of E3 in attendance, but it seems that 2022 cannot become one; not to mention that the prospect of having entered a new phase of the pandemic probably still destined to last for months and months is certainly not exciting.
As usual, however, even if it cannot be physically visited, there will be no shortage of announcements about upcoming games and will also be accompanied by various satellite events concentrated in the summer. An example is the Summer Game Fest, the event that replaced E3 in 2020 and whose organization has already been confirmed by Geoff Keighley.