E3 2022: the event is canceled, Geoff Keighley rubs his hands

The information is only fresh for a few minutes, but it has spread like wildfire on Twitter: the 2022 edition of E3 has just been canceled. This is Will Powers, PR at Razer, who let it be known in the first place stating that he had just received an email from ESA, the organizers of the event, who informed him of this sudden cancellation. It didn’t take long for Geoff Keighley, a former video game journalist turned entrepreneur and the originator of the Game Awards, to rejoice at this news. It must be said that for 2 years, the man launched in parallel the Summer Game Fest, which is an online festival where many publishers take the opportunity to announce their new games between the months of June and July. With the absence of E3 this year, it is certain that Summer Game Fest will replace itself as the event not to be missed when it comes to video game announcements.

If some thought of an April Fool’s joke thrown a little in advance, a statement from the organizers of E3 with our American colleagues from IGN confirmed that it was not a bad joke.

We will devote all our energy and resources to bringing you an E3 in physical and digital version which will be revitalized next summer. Whether enjoyed from the show floor or on your favorite devices, the 2023 showcase will bring together community, media and industry in an all-new format and interactive experience. We look forward to bringing E3 to fans around the world live from Los Angeles in 2023.

We therefore learn that the E3 2022 will therefore not see the light of day, not even under its online formula, yet agreed for 2 years now. However, the ESA promises a return to the show in 2023 stronger than ever, with a hybrid formula, face-to-face at the Los Angeles Convention Center, but also online. Good news then, but which will not fail to point the finger at a salon that is losing momentum and above all which is struggling to renew its formula. Not to mention that the pandamia of COVID has also made it possible to prove that other satellite events could also be complementary to E3 in these periods of confinement. Anyway, many warning signs had raised the alarm, such as the sudden cancellation of EA Play Live, the private event that Electronic Arts organizes in parallel with E3, but also the fact that gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show were making their face-to-face return. Let’s hope that the organizers of E3 take this sabbatical year to think about a new formula, more modern, more innovative and which can obviously also give the floor to visitors.

Source