The planned big return of E3 in 2023 has been canceled, according to an IGN report, which says that lack of interest forced organizers to pull the plug.
Sources told the site that the Entertainment Software Association sent an email to its members today saying that while E3 “remains a beloved event and brand,” the plan for this year’s event “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.”
E3 used to be the videogame industry’s premiere showcase event, but it was brought low in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic. That led major publishers to hold their own online events instead, and that actually worked out pretty well, leading to serious questions about E3’s relevance in the streaming era.
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Those questions grew even louder as major publishers opted out of this year’s event. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all declared in January that they wouldn’t be taking part, while Ubisoft, which had previously committed, pulled out earlier this week.
The ESA confirmed in an email sent to PC Gamer that both the on-site show and the digital event have been canceled.
“This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3,” said Kyle Marsden-Kish, ReedPop’s Global VP of Gaming. “We appreciate and understand that interested companies wouldn’t have playable demos ready and that resourcing challenges made being at E3 this summer an obstacle they couldn’t overcome. For those who did commit to E3 2023, we’re sorry we can’t put on the showcase you deserve and that you’ve come to expect from ReedPop’s event experiences.”
