The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), a globally renowned event for video games, technology, and computers, will not be held in person this year amid fears around COVID-19, its operator said on Thursday.

The development adds to a list of many showpiece events being wrapped up early or getting canceled or postponed for in-person gatherings amid a surge in US cases, with the latest ones being technology and gadget show CES, the Grammy Awards, and the Sundance Film Festival.

“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 E3 operator Entertainment Software Association (ESA) said in a statement.

The rolling seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in the US hit 540,000 earlier this week along with a surge in hospitalisations, days after the country reported a record one million infections in 24 hours.

© Thomson Reuters 2022