E3 2022: What We Know About The Canceled Event And What's Replacing It
E3 has been a staple of the games industry for decades, but it's going through a massive transition right now. After a tumultuous few years punctuated by big publishers pulling out and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting plans, the ESA has announced that E3 2022 is not happening. While the ESA has said that it plans to return to a live, in-person show in 2023, major publishers are moving forward with their own summer game reveal plans with or without E3. That will make this year unusual--as the show won't be centralized in Los Angeles, and the events may be spread outside of a single week--and could mark big changes in the years ahead for E3 going forward. Here's everything we know about E3 2022 and the other showcases that have stepped in to fill the gap.
In late March, the ESA officially confirmed rumors that had been circulating that E3 2022 would be canceled in its entirety. That included not just the in-person event--which had previously been scuttled due to the continuing risk of the coronavirus pandemic--but also its digital component that had served as a stopgap last year.
Why the ESA ultimately made this decision isn't a clear or simple answer. The ESA did not give specific reasoning why it was canceling the digital component. Before the official word came, though, reports had circulated that the organization had not laid out plans for publishers, which led to speculation that it was being canceled. For its part, the ESA did put on a digital-only presentation for E3 2021, but its online hub was largely disconnected from the publisher-run showcases that ran on companies' own social media channels.
Even before the coronavirus hit, though, E3 was in a state of flux. Publishers like Activision and EA pulled out in
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