E3 2022: the format of the new edition is revealed, physical or not physical?

Event news E3 2022: the format of the new edition is revealed, physical or not physical?

Published on 1/7/2022 8:37 AM

E3 is an institution in the video game world that holds its own, time and time again. And for this year 2022, the event will make a comeback with a format we already know… But maybe not the one you hoped for.

An E3 upset again

You know the music: with the approach of each summer for decades now, E3 takes place and with it, a general euphoria throughout the gaming sphere. So certainly, the event has been turned upside down in recent years : first with the withdrawal of one of its flagship players, Sony, which now prefers to hold its own shows at a distance, but also with the COVID-19 crisis which even forced the organizers to cancel the 2020 edition.

Last year, the show returned with a fully dematerialized edition, a format to which many are now accustomed. There are many who nevertheless hope for a real return to normal, especially when we know that other major shows have already taken the plunge like the very recent CES Las Vegas 2022, despite strong criticism because of the pandemic context. So, what about l’E3 2022?

The ESA (the Entertainment Software Association, the company behind the show) has just clarified the situation: E3 2022 will once again be held in a… digital format. But for society, this is not a big deal.

An “exciting” format

Mass is said: it is not this year that E3 will take place in Los Angeles to welcome its some 50,000 professionals and other 15,000 fans of video games. The reason could not be more obvious, and obviously due to the health context considered unstable, due to the relaunch of the epidemic.

“Due to the current health risks associated with COVID-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees, E3 will not take place in person in 2022, ESA said in a statement to GamesBeat. Nevertheless, the organizers assure to stay “incredibly excited about the future of E3”, and “Look forward to announcing more details soon.”

To add a layer, the firm also says “Excited about the possibilities of an online event” : if to say the opposite would have been surprising, we must admit that the video game landscape has adapted particularly well to the dematerialized format, not preventing so much the big shows and, above all, the bombastic announcements.

Note that the GDC (“Game Developers Conference”), for its part, will be held on site, in physics, from March 21 to 25.