E3 2022 is officially cancelled
The night before yesterday, the world's largest game exhibition E3 officially confirmed that all forms of exhibition will be cancelled this year. The news was first released by some of the show's partners and game companies, who told the media that the organizer of E3, ESA, had earlier informed everyone by email that this year's online show had decided to cancel. Subsequently, ESA confirmed the authenticity of this news in response to foreign media interviews, which is the third year since 2019 that the E3 offline exhibition has been called off (2020 was also fully called off, and 2021 was held online). However, in the response statement, the official deliberately emphasized that E3 will return in a better posture through offline and online means in 2023.
▲On the official website of E3, you can also see the slogan "See you next year in E3 2022"
It is worth noting that shortly before the decision to "cancel completely", the public's attitude towards the holding of E3 this year was still relatively optimistic. Three months ago, in response to a question from the media about this year's E3, the organizer ESA also said that although it is not realistic to hold the exhibition in offline form due to the epidemic, it still said that the E3 in 2022 will be held online, and now, the promise has been crushed, and the decision to cancel the online and offline exhibition forms at the same time is inevitably regrettable.
There is no doubt that the news of the E3 cancellation immediately set off a buzz of discussion on the Internet. There are naturally some people in these voices who are happy and some are sad, but affected by the epidemic, after experiencing two rather dull online E3 game exhibitions, for the complete cancellation of E3 this time, the industry and players may have expected in their hearts, rather than surprised, more people show regret after helpless acceptance.
"It really makes me sad. It was supposed to be a great event for everyone to get together. In just a few days, a lot of works will be posting their new news here."
"I've always enjoyed watching E3 with my brother, watching the new pieces after work. But it's dying now, and that's bad."
"I'll always remember that great moment when God of War was made public, and I still believe that E3 can do something this level, but the atmosphere and reaction are completely different without the audience watching." 」
"Yes, because the manufacturers have made their own." I really miss when all the games were together, like a family."
In addition, there are also many industry insiders and players who have given other evaluations in addition to regret. In their view, the cancellation of E3 is a reasonable thing, and the demise of this exhibition may be nothing more than a matter of time or time.
"We don't actually need E3 anymore, because now everything is electronically online, articles are good trailers, and the big companies can do their own live broadcasts to tell everyone that their products are about to go live." 」
"Cancellation is no accident. I'm already starting to think the Summer Game Festival is better. We are also looking forward to the "Summer of Games" event held by IGN."
As of now, the discussion about E3 continues, but after calming down, the focus has changed. As more and more people turn to focusing on and thinking about the reasons for the suspension of E3, the sentences beginning with "why" continue to pop up, and players can't help but wonder why this once high-profile annual event has fallen into such a situation and where to go in the future.
E3 forced into a dilemma
"So can you tell us what the reason for the cancellation is?"
Under the report that E3 2022 was confirmed to be canceled, many players were curious about the reasons for the cancellation of the online exhibition. If the cancellation of the offline form cannot be carried out due to the impact of the epidemic, then why has the online exhibition form, which was made public a few months ago, suddenly called for suspension? As of now, although the ESA has not made a detailed response to the reasons for the cancellation, many online speculations and discussions have probably already been explained.
The first is that there are too few things to "see", which is one of the most important reasons why E3 was forced to stop. You know, whether it is a movie, a concert or an exhibition, if the audience does not even have a flash of memory in their heads after the show, then to some extent the work is a failure. As mentioned in the comments above, when we talk about the original E3, we think of a lot of precious fragments. But when we talk about E3 in recent years, what are the first famous scenes that pop up in your mind?
After a closer search, you may come up with a few answers, maybe the news of the 2019 Zelda Legends sequel was released at the E3 Nintendo Face-to-Face Conference? The second trailer released for Cyberpunk 2077 in 2018? Some players might be reminded of the first public release of Forza Horizon 5 last year? But such deep memory points have obviously become less and less.
Of course, the embarrassing situation of "no highlights" may not let E3 completely carry the pot, it will inevitably involve many factors, such as the studio development progress affected by the epidemic and cannot enter the publicity window as scheduled; for example, due to the epidemic, many offline event planning that could have become highlights cannot be presented. However, the audience is to see the "show", and the show itself is "consequential", if the show has a beautiful stage, the catwalk people are not in place, then it is doomed to not open.
Second, in addition to the lack of content that audiences pay for, E3 is also trapped by more and more "competitors". In the game industry, the product resources that can be "put on the table" every year are limited, so for E3, how to grab the exclusive content of "highlight products" with other game exhibitions of similar nature is undoubtedly the top priority. However, with the rapid development of more and more homogeneous game exhibitions in recent years, the trend of "scrambling" has also intensified. Whether it is the global premiere clip of a game broadcast by TGA, known as the Oscar of the game industry, the exclusive information at the Tokyo Game Show, or the conference planned by major manufacturers themselves, etc., all of them are invariably eating into the market of content that can be released during the year. And when we look back, E3 seems to have no more bait to attract manufacturers than the "historic" status in the minds of players.
Geoff announced on Twitter that this year's Summer Game Festival is coming back, which is expected to take place in June
In addition to the blows caused by manufacturers and external competitors, there are obviously many problems to be solved within E3. Two years ago, in 2020, Geoff Keighly, a veteran host of E3 who has participated in many E3s, announced his withdrawal from that year's event, and on the other day he mentioned his views on E3 in response to a question on Twitter: "I think E3 needs to become more digital and global... This is an exhibition that means a lot to a lot of people, and it shouldn't be just a showroom." The implication here also implies that within E3, the old way of doing things is no longer working.
On the Internet, many netizens have also put forward their own views on E3's own problems in recent years. Some people think that the "loose selection" within E3 in recent years is tantamount to smashing the signboard, "it should never be rejected, and the audience does not want to see boring advertisements or mediocre broadcast time." Others believe that the E3 has been relatively chaotic in terms of organization and presentation in the past two years, which is not a good experience for both exhibitors and players. It is worth noting that E3 was originally an exhibition open only to the industry insiders and the media, and in recent years it has gradually opened up to the public, and while the audience has changed, how E3 repositions itself in planning and execution is also a problem that needs to be reconsidered.
In fact, the topic of E3 'falling" has been frequently mentioned since Sony announced its withdrawal in 2019, in addition to the above two points, the development of the Internet and self-media era has subverted the publicity model and C3 is a bit caught off guard. When every manufacturer or even an individual can speak out in front of everyone through themselves, the advantage of content being king will be magnified, which means that every year when the E3 investment promotion work begins, the first question for invited manufacturers will gradually change from "What content do I want to show on this stage" to "Do I really need to spend a lot of money to stand on this stage?"
Obviously, for now, E3 may not be able to give a good answer to this question.
Is the E3 really ready for next year's comeback?
Some people may say that the most special thing about E3 is also the fundamental reason that supports his non-demise is the feeling of cohesion that everyone gathers together, which is also the touch of "the player's own party" that almost every player who has been to the E3 scene has mentioned, but to make matters worse, the ensuing epidemic has turned this initial touch away for three consecutive years.
In an email from ESA in response to Polygon, they wrote: "We will devote all our energy and resources to bringing you a more vibrant online and offline exhibition next year." Whether you're watching the show live or through your preferred platform device, the 2023 show is sure to bring the entire community, media and gaming industry back together in a new and interactive way."
It is not difficult to see that ESA has high hopes for next year's exhibition, and this high hope even gives people a sense of desperation. For example, they said they would devote "all their energy and resources" to next year's show. But despite this, I believe that this email will not play much of a role in stabilizing the hearts and minds of the military. When we recount the dilemmas faced by E3 mentioned earlier, we find that even next year, many problems will still exist and need to be solved. How much of E3 2023 will be able to pocket? In the past two years of poor reputation, how can it surpass competitors to re-win the cooperation of manufacturers? In the new era of networking, does the publicity model provided by E3 need to be changed accordingly? And most importantly, if "coming together" is the soul of E3, how should that soul be injected? Only by addressing these issues can E3 regain its competitiveness.
Like many players, I worry that E3, which is ready to make a comeback, will collapse again after being expected, but I'm also looking forward to how E3 can meet everyone in a new way after trying its best.