Video Games Trade Show E3 online only this year

The world’s largest trade fair for video games E3 will not take place in the usual way this year either. In view of the problems that the electronics fair CES is currently dealing with, the organizers have canceled the location booking. As the industry association Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced, they will not meet in Los Angeles for the third time in a row.

Instead, like last year, they want to implement a purely online concept. In 2020, the trade fair was even canceled completely because a replacement model could not be set up in time after the outbreak of the corona pandemic. This year, too, it can be assumed that the development of the infection process will not make it possible to carry out the event normally. The organizers of the CES tried to go through with their trade fair anyway, but there were a lot of exhibitors who didn’t want to expose their employees to any risk and canceled at short notice, so that the event became a rather boring affair.

Rumors

However, those responsible for E3 had already planned the trade fair with a hybrid concept. So it is now possible to cancel the offline part in Los Angeles without any major disagreements. In particular, the local government there is unlikely to be enthusiastic. After all, Mayor Eric Garcettis had personally campaigned for the E3 to take place on site again. However, there is of course the question of whether the fair will actually take place again in its old form.

There are certainly voices that the ESA is taking the current Omikron development as a pretext to advance the conversion plans. Because in general, trade fairs – especially in the tech-savvy target group – have lost a significant part of their importance.