The news fell like a hammer blow: E3 2023 is canceled. The chances of the show returning one day are diminishing as major publishers such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo prefer to organize their own conferences. Rest in peace, E3.
E3 2022 had been canceled as the specter of Covid seemed to be receding for good. A year later, we said to ourselves that this time it was the right one, no reason could have stopped the holding of the biggest video game fair. But dark clouds were gathering over ReedPop, the organizer of E3: in February Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft and Nintendo announced that they would not attend E3 2023. Likewise in recent days of other big publishers like SEGA, Devolver or Tencent declared not to participate.
It’s now confirmed, E3 2023 is cancelled, dead and buried. IGN announced yesterday evening that the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) had sent an email to its members during the day, indicating that the show would not be held. This email states that if the E3 “remains a popular event and brand“, version 2023 “simply hasn’t garnered the sustained interest needed to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength and impact of our industry“.
With the release of the news, the ESA reacted in a press release:
This decision was difficult to make due to all the effort we and our partners have put into making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3. We understand that interested companies did not prepare playable demos and that resource issues made attending E3 this summer an obstacle they could not overcome. For those who have committed to attending E3 2023, we’re sorry that we can’t give you the showcase you deserve and expect from ReedPop events.
E3 2023 is cancelled, what about the next editions?
This is the third year in a row that the physical E3 show has been cancelled. Indeed, the edition of the E3 2020 had been canceled because of the Covid. The 2021 edition was entitled to an online format where players in the video game industry were able to stream their presentations, watched for free by thousands of people around the planet. The 2023 edition is canceled and it seems that the Covid has got the better of the show, by transforming the video game industry in the long term.
Indeed, video game publishers no longer have any interest in joining a show as big as E3. At each edition, they had to compete for the announcement effect to steal the show, sometimes to the point of seeming a little desperate, as during E3 2018, where Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls VI by broadcasting a simple capture of screen with the name of the game. Drowned in the mass, the interest was limited for publishers who have now got into the habit of organizing their own conferences. They are there on their land and the expectations are much lower and that is why Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony or even Ubisoft have canceled their visit, sinking the show in the process.
Will there be new editions of E3? A press release from ReedPop gives a glimmer of hope, claiming that they “would continue to work together on future E3 events” with the ESA. But as a confession, the president of the association completely dodged GamesIndustry.biz’s question asking him if the event would return in 2024. Rest in peace E3, you will have sold us a dream.
