The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 for short, is coming back in 2023.
On Thursday, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced a new strategic partnership with ReedPop to organize E3 2023. ReedPop produces several high-profile trade shows and conventions, such as PAX, Star War Celebration, and New York Comic Con, and also owns Gamer Network, the mass media company behind VG247, Rock Paper Shotgun, GamesIndustry.biz, and Eurogamer.
“It is a tremendous honor and privilege for ReedPop to take on the responsibility of bringing E3 back in 2023,” Lance Fensterman, ReedPop president, said via GamesIndustry.biz. “With the support and endorsement of the ESA, we’re going to build a world-class event to serve the global gaming industry in new and broader ways than we already do at ReedPop through our portfolio of world-leading events and websites.”
For the past three years, E3’s presence within the games industry has been practically non-existent. The show was canceled in 2020, then came back as an online event in 2021, only to be subsequently canned again in 2022. Many thought E3 would never return after all that, even though the ESA stated otherwise.
We're back! 👾#E32023 will take place in June at the Los Angeles Convention Center— with new partner ReedPop (the folks behind @PAX!)
Learn more: https://t.co/p9QUmBtkBu pic.twitter.com/MdW00Qekeg
— E3 (@E3) July 7, 2022
“We are thrilled to bring back E3 as an in-person event with ReedPop, a global leader in producing pop culture events,” Stanley Pierre-Louis, ESA president and CEO, said via GamesIndustry.biz. “The past three years have confirmed that E3 convenes our industry like no other event. ReedPop brings world-class talent and a keen understanding of the video game industry, which will serve to enhance the E3 experience for years to come.”
E3 2023 is happening at the Los Angeles Convention Center sometime in June. Curiously, Summer Games Fest, which was dubbed “not-E3” by many (me), announced its return next year on Thursday as well.
Get ready!#SummerGameFest returns in June of 2023 for the fourth year, with a lineup of digital and in-person events to celebrate the future of video games.
Sign up at https://t.co/gO9QVWnsZd for more details! pic.twitter.com/YFEUbykZAT
— Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) July 7, 2022
Well, I never thought I’d see brands subtweeting each other. We certainly live in a society.
Jokes aside, it’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Xbox, PlayStation, Capcom, and other companies held showcases without any massive trade show tying everything together just fine.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
