E3 2022 Could Be New Form of Physical & Digital Hybrid Show

With E3 2021 already well underway, it looks like plans for next year’s event have been set in motion.

The CEO of ESA, the association behind yearly conference, said in a recent interview via Gaming Industry.biz that next year’s event will “probably be a mix of physical and digital.” Stanley Pierre-Louis continued:

“The shape of that is yet to be determined, and we hope to learn from this year’s event what transfers well.” I can’t speak to future E3s because we really want to focus on 2021 and ensure this is a great experience for exhibitors, the media, and fans alike.”

A Whole New E3

Although Pierre couldn’t speak further about the future plans for next year’s extravaganza, he did speak on how gaming since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic began to boom, stating that:

“We’re in this golden age of video gaming because more people have been exposed to games over this past year than before,” he said. “The video game audience was large, and because of the pandemic, many people were reintroduced or introduced for the first time to games, and that created lots of opportunities for these platforms to really emerge.”

As we all know, the event for 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that came along with it. The past 2 E3s beforehand, however did receive mixed reviews from not only the press but the general public.

While E3 2018 brought a lot to the plate such as the announcements of Devil May Cry 5, Resident Evil 2 remake and Smash Ultimate just to name a view, E3 2019, although it had Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the playable demo, lacked the gravitas that it’s predecessor had. E3 2020 was already off to a rough start with Sony wanting to no-show the event as a whole as well as Electronic Arts.

Last year’s event being cancelled may have been a blessing in disguise and with this year’s E3 being both virtual and kick starting the Summer of Gaming on Youtube, this may be the jolt ESA needs in order to breathe life back into the expo. We shall see what happens when E3 kicks the summer off this weekend.

What are your thoughts about the plans for next year’s E3? Do you object to it being a hybrid of both physical and digital? Will you be attending? What games do you hope will be announced next week? Let us know in the comments below.