E3 2022 has been confirmed as an in-person event and is set to take place in Los Angeles.
Speaking on the E3 2021 livestream, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti spoke about his city's "growing concentration" of game publishers, major developers, and independent studios, describing it as a "hub for the gaming industry." With that in mind, the mayor finished his short speech by saying "we look forward to seeing you in-person, here in the City of Angels, in 2022."
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of last year's show and forced E3 2021 into a digital-only format. With vaccination efforts beginning to limit the number of new infections in many parts of the world, E3 organiser the ESA is presumably confident in its ability to run its more traditional, in-person event for both industry members and the general public next summer.
Even though E3 2021 went ahead successfully, the impact of the pandemic has been felt beyond the digital format. Few studios have made it through the past 15 months without some form of disruption, meaning many of the show's biggest hitters are still aiming for a 2022 release window. Elden Ring is set for a January launch, with Redfall and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands set to arrive later in 2022. Starfield, arguably one of this year's biggest reveals, isn't due to arrive until nearly the end of the year, while Nintendo says it's only "aiming" to release the Breath of the Wild sequel in 2022.
It'll be a few months before we even get to see the games set to release this year. A quiet summer will come to an end in September with the arrivals of Deathloop, Rainbow Six Extraction, and Life is Strange: True Colours, followed up by Far Cry 6, Battlefield 2042, and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy the following month. Halo Infinite and Horizon: Forbidden West are still expected for 2021 releases, but remain without an official release date.
Still, E3 2022 is already shaping up to be pretty busy when you consider the games that didn't make an appearance this year. None of the games on Warner Bros' big IPs list - Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad, and Hogwarts Legacy - showed up, paving the way for some surefire hits next summer. There were also a few titles missing from Ubisoft and Square Enix, and we know that, although Bethesda is focused on the stars right now, The Elder Scrolls 6 remains in development. Hopefully when we return to LA next year, it'll be for a stacked next-gen schedule.
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