» E3 was scheduled to return to its regular home, the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The 2023 edition of E3 has been cancelled following the confirmation that several major companies would not be attending the event, leaving the future of the exhibition in doubt. Originally established in 1995 by the Entertainment Software Association, for many years the show was the most important games industry gathering and a venue for major announcements including new hardware, major new games and other initiatives. This year’s event was to be co-organised by ReedPop, a major events company which has experience of running gaming events such as PAX and Minecraft Festival in the USA and EGX in the UK, as well as the likes of New York Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con and MCM Comic Con. Speaking to gamesindustry. biz, also owned by ReedPop, ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louis noted that economic concerns have caused companies to “reassess how they invest in large marketing events”, and that many were exploring “how to find the right balance between in-person events and digital marketing opportunities”. In the time since the last in-person E3 event was held in 2019, a number of digital showcases have been established including Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest, the collaborative New Game+ Expo and the Future Games Show run by Retro Gamer’s publisher Future. This adds to the existing online showcases from platform holders including Nintendo Direct and Sony’s State Of Play shows.