Three months out from when the gaming industry’s biggest tradeshow was set to return, the ESA has confirmed that E3 won’t be coming back this year.
With the last in-person E3 taking place prior to the pandemic in 2019, expectations were high when event organiser ReedPop said it’d be taking over and teaming up with ESA to make the event happen. Would PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo all still see the benefit of having a large presence at a physical industry event when they’ve found great success in recent years hosting digital showcases? Apparently not.
IGN reports that E3 2023 has been officially cancelled, with no word on whether it will return in 2024. Confirmation came via an internal email sent by the ESA to its board members, in which it stated while E3 “remains a beloved event and brand" it had failed to garner the support to make the 2023 version worthwhile. It goes on to say that there wasn’t “sustained interest”, indicating that many other publishers – in addition to the main three platform-holders – didn’t see the benefit in attending.
