E3 2022 Is Cancelled…What’s Next?

Nearly three months after canceling the in-person edition of E3 2022 due to COVID-19 concerns, the Entertainment Software Association, the association that organizes E3 and is in charge of the ESRB, has canceled the previously-planned digital E3 showcase. No reason was given as to why the digital E3 showcase was canceled. So, what could publishers do this year to still have E3-style events without the need to pack it all into one workweek?

This isn’t the first time this happened, so we have a model for what to expect. After hearing E3 2020 would be canceled, Geoff Keighley started his digital showcase called Summer Game Fest, which ran from May 2020 to August 1st, 2020. That year featured revealed Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, Unreal Engine 5, the first hands-on with the DualSense controller for PlayStation 5, and the usual events from Xbox, PlayStation, EA, Ubisoft, and more. In the midst of Summer Game Fest 2020, I wrote an article called “I’m Sick of (Not) E3”, criticizing this scattershot approach to presenting E3 across multiple months. In 2021, SGF returned even though E3 returned that year, but instead of supplanting it, last year it supplemented it, featuring the E3 live streams as well as special events like Netflix Geeked Week, Tribeca Games Spotlight, Koch Primetime Gaming Stream, Steam Next Fest, Sonic Symphony Orchestra, and the Annapurna Interactive Showcase and took place for less than a month.

So, what does that tell us about this summer of video game announcements? I figure we’ll see a return to isolated and focused streams by individual publishers and might be spread across multiple months.

I don’t think it’ll be spread as far as SGF 2020, but one of the first notable publishers we need to talk about is EA. They canceled EA Play Live this year but said, “we look forward to spending time with you throughout the year!” leading me to believe that they’ll be focusing on a more spread-out announcement schedule. I could see the publisher holding a live stream for the Star Wars games they’re working on during Star Wars Celebration, which will take place from May 26th to May 29th, 2022, a separate one in mid-June to talk about all the EA Sports titles launching this year, a Battlefield 2042 Season One update live stream. As for their 2023 lineup, I don’t think the publisher will be talking about anything besides Dead Space (2023) since that launches before E3 2023, with everything else being too early to even talk about.

Another big publisher is 2K. They publish games like BioShock, Borderlands, Mafia, NBA 2K, Civilization, WWE 2K, and XCOM, among others. I could see them showing the BioShock game Cloud Chamber is working on and more Midnight Suns in mid-June. I would say NBA 2K23 and their other franchises, but those games seem not to need the E3 boost.

Another juggernaut is Activision & Blizzard. While the deal won’t close until Q4 2023, I do think they’ll be included in Xbox’s June presentation and will include games like a new Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (no, not the one from 2009, the reimagined Modern Warfare 2) paired with an announcement of a new Call of Duty remaster (probably a multiplayer remaster of Modern Warfare 2, but that might be confusing, so maybe one of the Black Ops games or earlier titles?), updates to Call of Duty: Warzone & Call of Duty: Mobile, and maybe a new Spyro game.

There’s also the high possibility of another Annapurna Interactive Showcase unveiling dates for Stray, Neon White, Thirsty Suitors, Skin Deep, Storyteller, Hindsight & Open Roads.

One publisher that might skip out on the festivities is Capcom. There isn’t really a lot of upcoming games on their release schedule. They’ve got Street Fighter 6, Exoprimal, Capcom Fighting Collection, remasters for Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 3. The only way I could see Capcom getting involved here is through a State of Play put on by PlayStation, but given many of these were recently announced and the only games with 2022 releases are Capcom Fighting Collection and the Resident Evil remasters, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see these relegated to PlayStation Blog posts.

Then, there’s Devolver. E3 or no, they’ll have a showcase. What games? They don’t matter, as Devolver does their own thing. Their showcases are focused on critiquing the games industry and less on video game announcements. I’ll watch whatever they put out in mid-June.

As another big publisher, Koch Media will have tons to show off this summer. There will no doubt be separate streams for Saints Row gameplay, the first look at System Shock, Evil Dead: The Game, and Payday 3, as well at least one new announcement in a main event like PlayStation or Xbox’s June stream.

SEGA will also likely show up throughout the summer with streams for Company of Heroes 3, Sonic Frontiers, and several games we don’t know about yet. Whether this will be developer streams or as part of a bigger showcase remains to be seen, but I’d bet on the former.

Square Enix is always a significant presence in the summer. We’ll see a War Table for Marvel’s Avengers, details on new additions to Outriders, a tease for Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 as part of a PlayStation stream, a launch trailer for Forspoken in the Square Enix Presents presentation, where we’ll also see updates on the various Dragon Quest games & more of Final Fantasy XVI.

Ubisoft will also likely return to its Ubisoft Forward this year, their big showcase for the upcoming year of Ubisoft games, movies & television. In this presentation, we’ll see a new update previewed for For Honor, more gameplay of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, a reveal trailer for The Crew 3, gameplay for The Division Heartland, the first look at Trackmania’s Winter campaign, another look at the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, a gameplay demo of Ghost Recon Frontline, a deeper look at XDefiant, a look at Rocksmith+ with a release date, a grand unveiling of the next Assassin’s Creed, a look at Year 2 of Riders Republic, an update on Rainbow Six Extraction’s first year of content, a dance-fueled nightmare that is Just Dance 2023 and more teases from Beyond Good & Evil 2, Skull and Bones, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

As for Warner Bros. Games, it is my firm belief that they’ll take on a reduced presence this year, with looks at Gotham Knights, Hogwarts Legacy, MultiVersus, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and any other games they have to unveil popping up as part of other streams or on their own via the State of Play(s) put on by PlayStation.

Speaking of, PlayStation will likely host at least one State of Play. The platform holder will have a big summer with PSVR2 titles like Horizon: Call of the Mountain as a launch title for the updated VR headset, among many other PlayStation Studios titles like a plausible VR game from Firesprite or Team Asobi, a first look at Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, an update on Gran Turismo 7, a sizzle for MLB The Show 22, gameplay from God of War Ragnarok (and maybe a release date?), another look at DeathVerse: Let It Die, a date for Bugsnax: The Isle of BIGsnax, the Resident Evil remasters I mentioned earlier, a date for Little Devil Inside, another look at Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, among other games we don’t know about.

Another big platform holder that’ll show up in a big way is Xbox. The Xbox Game Showcase will open with Forza Motorsport gameplay, another look at Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, a date for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, another look at A Plague Tale: Requiem, a first look at the next season of Sea of Thieves, a first look at the Top Gun: Maverick expansion pack for Microsoft Flight Simulator, a bunch of ID@Xbox games, an update on Grounded, an updated roadmap for Halo Infinite, a look at whatever Gears game they’re working on, a look at Compulsion Games’ new game, another look at Perfect Dark, the next update for Minecraft, a quick look at Avowed, gameplay of State of Decay 3, gameplay from Starfield, an update on The Elder Scrolls Online, gameplay of Redfall, a tease of Wolfenstein III, the release of Hero Dice on iOS & Android as well as Commander Keen, as well as games we don’t know about.

Well, I hope that was informative. However, keep in mind this is a very rough draft of what I think will happen this summer and is based on previous conferences & live-streamed events, so I’m bound to be wrong at several points here.

Until next time!

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