E3 Shifts To Online-Only Event Because of Omicron Concerns

The Entertainment Software Association is shifting the Electronic Entertainment Expo to an online-only event out of concerns around the pandemic. VentureBeat reports: "Due to the ongoing health risks surrounding COVID-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees, E3 will not be held in person in 2022," the ESA said in a statement to GamesBeat. "We remain incredibly excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon." That means the show will likely take place online this summer for the second year in a row, as COVID-19 concerns pushed the June 2021 show into an online-only event and scuttled the 2020 event entirely. Asked to clarify if there will be an online event, the ESA said it is "excited about the possibilities of an online event."

Was there any big company still left to cancel?

[luvirini]

I thought that at least all the big companies already canceled their participation?

So I would assume E3 had little choice in the matter really.

They are mining crypto stories faster than

[waspleg]

actual coins or their transactions.

Irrelevant

[phantomfive]

E3 was already irrelevant. Decades ago.

Re:

[oGMo]

E3 was pretty relevant in 2000. It was still fairly relevant in 2013 when the stumblings of Microsoft with the XBox One (that is, the first XBox One, not the XBox One S or X, or the original XBox) lead to Sony's wildly successful "this is how you share" [youtube.com] video a day before E3 and their press conference, and them basically dominating the generation.

Its relevance has been going downhill since, though, since everyone realized they didn't really need E3 to have a conference or communicate with fans, etc., given

It Will Be News . . .

[Kunedog]

. . . if they have the physical event (ever) again. Staying online isn't a "shift."

Jokes on you...E3 was always a joke

[ArhcAngel]

E3 has to admit they were always a joke but covid has forced them to admit it!

Re:

[Z80a]

Covid was a good excuse, more than anything

Good idea, look at CES

[SuperKendall]

If you look at pictures from this years CES, that show is dead this year. Extremely light crowds. I have to think most companies that decided to go are really unhappy.

E3 is wisely avoiding terrible optics like that, and probably even more companies abandoning the show.

I have to wonder how much pressure there was for this as well by the companies that decided not to go physically, now they are back on equal footing with all of the other companies at virtual E3 and they have even had more time to prepare.

Overdue and this is why

[couchslug]

One promise of the computer age was making meat gatherings (which have an absurdly large pollution and energy wast footprint including travel for every attendee and support person) obsolete.

We need tech so good humans wouldn't want to drive across town to an event because they prefer a richer virtual experience from technology than that in meatspace. It's not just pandemic, it's a matter of getting rid of a tradition which should be as obsolete as the stenographer pool, and techies are smart enough to make

Re:

[JBeretta]

What a giant load of liberal bullshit. You people aren't operating in anything that resembles reality. What's worse is that you morons think your personal preferences should apply to everyone. Most of you want to use force (government power) to achieve your ends.

Not everyone considers travel to be dreary, fuckstick. LOTS of people enjoy a good road-trip.

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So, just a bunch of internet ads?

[sabbede]

That's what an online E3 is, right? Well, an E2 really, given that it isn't an expo if you don't have industry representatives together in one place giving hands-on demonstrations to the public and press. There's no opportunity for developers to talk to each other, hardware people can't show off cool devices software people might want to support, and smaller outfits won't have the chance to get their product in the public eye.

Besides, it's six months away. Are they assuming nothing will change in the m