The Entertainment Software Association has announced E3 2022 is online-only again, due to concerns over the COVID-19 omicron variant.

The news that E3 2022 is online-only comes amidst rising cases and deaths from COVID-19 under the Biden administration, who said there is “no federal solution” to combating the pandemic and that it “gets solved at a state level.”

“Due to the ongoing health risks surrounding COVID-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees, E3 will not be held in person in 2022,” the ESA said to GamesBeat. “We are nonetheless excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.”

This means the Electronic Entertainment Expo will be digital-only for the second time since its inception back in 1995, with E3 2021 being the first year the event went all-digital. The previous year saw E3 2020 cancelled entirely as the events organizers weren’t planned for a completely remote version of the long-running industry event.

E3 is typically held towards the middle of June every year, so it remains to be seen if COVID will still be a concern or if there will still be mandates and restrictions by then, but with the ESA pulling the plug now it would be impossible for companies to make a showing later. It takes months for vendors to prepare booths, new builds of games, and more. The ESA instead provided companies with digital booths on the event’s online app and portal – which you can read more about here.

In comparison, the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show went ahead with an in-person event in Las Vegas this week, despite the concerns from the omicron variant.