Every year, during the summer months, there are a series of presentations where some of the biggest producers in all of gaming announce upcoming titles, new releases, and more all to the excitement of fans. This period of time has always been associated with the trade show, E3, but over the last few years E3 has struggled to remain relevant as complications from COVID, internal issues, and questions about if E3 should even exist have plagued it. Despite this, the organization running E3 known as the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has been adamant that it will continue on and would have a presentation in 2023. This will not happen.
E3 2023 has been cancelled as first reported by IGN’s Rebekah Valentine. Sometime Thursday, the ESA announced to its shareholders that an event in 2023 would not be happening. This follows months of announcements from some of gaming’s biggest companies, such as Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation, and Ubisoft announcing that it would not have a presence of any kind at whatever event E3 was planning to host.
Two sources have confirmed to IGN that the organization announced the cancellation via an email sent out to its members today. The email said that while E3 “remains a beloved event and brand” that the 2023 version “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry.”
With yet another cancellation to E3, many are wondering if this is it for the longtime event. Many companies no longer see value in purchasing an expensive physical booth at the Los Angeles convention center when they can do a better job reaching out to fans, media, and shareholders on their own through digital events like Nintendo Direct, or PlayStation’s State of Play. There are even competing showcase events like Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest.
If this really is it for E3, it will leave behind a complicated legacy. Many journalists speak highly of what it did for their careers, and fans have always loved having a week dedicated to the celebration of video games, but E3’s inability to evolve with the changing times may have finally doomed it for good.