No E3 2022
E3 has been cancelled both in person and online broadcasts of the expo
Sad news recently that again for the third year in a row E3 is still cancelled due to Covid-19 reasons. The news came fairly recently that no physical E3 event is going to happen, nor an online event like we received last year. Its unfortunate, but I’m a little curious about not making a online showcase of the expo like last year. You could only assume that if things didn’t pick up at least by Q3 or Q4 2021 that it was going to be a pretty safe bet the event was going to be cancelled in person and instead put everything online.
Not sure on production quality and time and manpower it would take to just make everything go digital for this year, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
IGN put out this tweet yesterday but also pointed out that ESA will return next year with “a reinvigorated showcase”. So we can hope that not only will the expo return, but hopefully with a bang?
How though will the developers prepare for next years event? Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and every other AAA and indie developer definitely schedule game launches with corresponding events to market them to us, would that mean they’ll be saving some games for next year?
Nintendo has chosen to delay the sequel to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild until Spring 2023 as stated by the producer Eiji Aonuma in this video.
Though I don’t think this decision had much to do with E3 since Nintendo has gone the route of pre-recorded showcases and more personalized announcements with Nintendo Direct and Treehouse Live.
But I am curious If other developers might be holding off or even thinking about delaying some titles to use during E3 2023. After a quick Google search I wanted to see the list of games scheduled for release in 2022, to my surprise the list is very barren after June. From July to December 2022 approximately eleven games will be released. Which I think is a big yikes considering those eleven or so games aren’t persistent online games. Some to maybe look forward to are Forsaken on October 11th which is published by Square Enix, and Starfield on November 11th published by Bethesda.
The rest of 2022 even at this point may be comprised of Lost Ark, some favorited MMORPGs, new single player story games that keep us captivated for a few weeks or hopefully a month+ like Elden Ring. (oh boy what a game lol)
There may be some surprise releases of updates and games coming out of nowhere that may draw serious attention, thinking about Among Us or Valheim. We may be getting into a gaming drought by Q3 this year, but that all depends on the gamer. Like myself, I’m looking forward to a stable release of the multiplayer of Overwatch 2 since Blizzard announced that the PvE and PvP development will be split asunder to allow the game to finally come out.
Overwatch 2 has been in development since around 2019 when leaks and rumors of Diablo 4 and Overwatch were coming out. It was finally revealed with the “Zero Hour“ trailer during Blizzcon 2019 that Overwatch 2 was real, but that it was featuring massive upgrades to the engine, more characters, more maps, new game modes, and a complete overhaul on balancing for each existing character as well as adding a massive PvE experience that would blow away the previous events hosted in Overwatch 1.
Naturally, development began to slow to a massive halt with Covid-19 shutdowns and… uhh… lawsuits. So the top echelon of the Overwatch team decided to un-couple the PvP and PvE aspects and begin to focus more on the PvP. This decision I think came down to the Overwatch League coming back on May 5 2022, and it going to seem very foreign and weird to have a community try to enjoy a professional series of a game that they’ve never played. Especially considering the game is dropping its 6v6 format and picking up 5v5 just like every other competitive game.
The beta for this new Overwatch 2 multiplayer is scheduled for April 26th 2022 where we can at least gets some hands on fun with it before the league takes it away. Aside from the beta and the league, we still don’t have a clear date as to when and if Overwatch 2 is going to come out and as planned without the PvE aspect.
So yeah, 2022 is going to be interesting regarding games, as has the past 2 years have been. Covid-19 has definitely played a big role in delays and development issues, and I can’t wait to see it become a thing of the past. Hopefully the rest of the world can hold on to for dear life. I guess I can rotate to other games in the mean time like Halo Infinite, Valorant, Death Stranding Directors Cut.
(I like it ok? Its fun, stop judging me and my walking simulator)
With no E3 this year hopefully all the big time studios will release trailers and updates on their projects, and hell, probably host their own direct events to take place without the need of E3. Wouldn’t doubt it, but I guess we’ll see.