In an interview with the Washington Post this week, ESA president and CEO Stan Pierre-Louis reiterated the association’s commitment to holding an in-person and online E3 next summer. However, the ESA hasn’t confirmed a precise date. This year’s E3 cancellation was the second in three years. Covid — the cause of E3 2020’s cancellation — wasn’t the only source of controversy surrounding the expo and the ESA, as attendees criticized how the association handled the backend of the online-only E3 2021. Afterward, the status of E3 2022 was immediately in doubt. After each E3, the ESA usually reveals the next expo’s date, but last year it simply announced a hybrid E3 with an unspecified 2022 date. The ESA changed its mind again in January, making it an online-only event. That decision was largely based on the Omicron variant’s impact on CES and Sundance Film Festival. The ESA finally scrapped E3 2022 plans altogether in March, with Pierre-Louis citing Covid as the cause. However, other 2022 game industry events are taking place in various forms despite the pandemic. March’s 2022 Game Developers Conference was in-person. The Summer Game Fest this Thursday will be in-person and online, as will Gamescom in August. September’s Tokyo Game Show will be in-person. As other physical events learn to live with Covid and the game industry adapts without E3, next year may decide the future of its existence.
