The ESA (Electronic Software Association) has just confirmed that E3 2022 will be held digitally, just like last year’s edition. According to an official statement from the Association, this decision was taken as a precaution against the Omicron variant of covid-19, although some sources affirm that in reality this is just an excuse and the decision had been made long ago.
“Due to the ongoing health risks surrounding COVID-19 and its potential impact on the health of exhibitors and attendees, E3 will not be held in person in 2022”Is what the THAT in an official statement to GamesBeat. “We remain incredibly excited for the future of EA and look forward to announcing more details soon.”. This would be the second year in a row that E3 is done digitally, after having been canceled in its entirety in 2020. The last face-to-face edition was in 2019.
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However, other sources assure that ESA planned to abandon E3 in person and the omicron variant is just an excuse for your advertisement. According to Mike futter, in November you heard that ESA had abandoned its plans for a face-to-face event, long before the recent emergence of cases of the Omicron variant. According to Futter, E3 2021 showed publishers that they don’t need to pay exorbitant amounts of money to appear at the event when they can host their own independent broadcast.
Jason schreier believes that Mike’s reports are correct, because if he had planned a face-to-face event, the ESA would have had to discuss its dates a long time ago. Over the years, more and more companies decide not to attend E3 and hold independent events instead, such as Nintendo with its Nintendo Directs and Xbox with its Games Showcase.
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With the announcement of a E3 2022 digitally, it is becoming more and more likely that we will not see a face-to-face edition again in the future, especially now that publishers have discovered other alternatives. Either way, in the middle of the year the Summer Game Fest awaits us, as well as the independent broadcasts carried out by companies such as Nintendo, Xbox, Square Enix, Ubisoft or Electronic Arts.