The first report we saw was from a PR Lead at Razer:
Just got an email... It's official, E3 digital is official cancelled for 2022. Lots of mixed feelings about this...
— Will Powers 🛫 NYC (@WillJPowers) March 31, 2022
And then well-known video game tweeter Nibellion points out that Summer Game Fest's own Geoff Keighley is being a bit cheeky:
Meanwhile: https://t.co/tYdIUiF0Pw
— Nibel (@Nibellion) March 31, 2022
IGN quickly followed up by reporting that partners have indeed been notified of the cancellation:
After previously canceling its in-person E3 2022 event, the ESA has now informed its partners that there will be no digital event equivalent this year either - meaning E3 2022 has fully been canceled.
Axios' Stephen Totilo tweeted a response recieved from the ESA — the company behind E3:
ESA: "E3 will return in 2023 with a reinvigorated showcase that celebrates new and exciting video games and industry innovations. "
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) March 31, 2022
Confirms that digital event for 2022 is cancelled.
Patrick Klepek over at Waypoint has been going to E3 since he was a teenager, and this news has brought up some emotions:
I have a lot of E3 memories, because it gave me a career. I should write them down. Good idea.
— Patrick Klepek (@patrickklepek) March 31, 2022
Bloomberg's Jason Scheier is a bit more cynical about the way this has been handled:
Savvy of the ESA to cancel E3 in January, pretend they were going to do some sort of digital thing, then also cancel that two months later — gives them an extra social media cycle of people posting their E3 memories. Like when Tom Brady retired
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 31, 2022
E3 has been in serious trouble since its lackluster showing in 2019, but the weirdness around the pandemic had essentially pushed back the execution date. The show has been running since the mid-90s, but the value to the companies who participated has all but evaporated now that Twitch and YouTube are easy ways to directly market to consumers. E3 may (will?) return in altered form one day, but the E3 we knew is pretty much dead.
