It looks like E3 2022 will be going ahead as a digital-only event after all. That’s according to the ESRB which has been sending out emails to developers about the event. According to reputable leaker Tom Henderson, the ESRB started sending out emails about the event to developers yesterday. Check out Henderson’s tweets on the event below.
E3 will be an entirely digital event again this year according to the ESRB who sent out emails to developers today.
I guess this squashes the rumors that they were going to cancel it?
I’d be expecting an announcement soon if the ESRB is sending out emails.
Tom Henderson
As Henderson states, it’s likely that an official announcement will take place soon. E3 is run by the Entertainment Software Association. The ESA established the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) in 1994. The ESRB sending out emails about E3 is as close to hearing it from the horse’s mouth as we’re likely to get prior to an official announcement.
The confirmation that E3 will be digital-only comes after weeks of rumors that the event wouldn’t be going ahead at all. At the height of the COVID-19 omicron variant, the ESA made the decision to cancel the E3 2022 physical event. At the same time, the organization didn’t make any mention of the event going digital. That led to rumors that there wouldn’t be a digital event at all. Last year’s E3 was a digital-only event and it wasn’t very well received. With competition from Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest, the future of E3 is in a precarious position. If the ESA isn’t able to pull off a better digital event this year developers and publishers may simply take their announcements elsewhere.
There’s a lot riding on a digital-only E3 this year. Stay tuned for an official announcement that should come soon.