In the end, what has been often mentioned in recent days has happened – this year’s E3 has indeed been canceled, as some predicted. He came with the information first IGN magazine, according to which the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) announced this via an email sent. Just a few days ago, she promised that she would soon introduce the exhibitors, among whom were supposed to be big AAA names and important companies and publishers. However, it looks like it won’t happen anymore, as shortly after the first report, the cancellation was officially confirmed, both in physical and digital form.
“It was a tough decision given the effort we and our partners put into making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3,” said ReedPop’s Kyle Marsden-Kish, who she had to bring this year’s edition and the whole event back to life. And for the sake of interest, let’s add that, coincidentally, its president Lance Fensterman resigned the day before yesterday. “We appreciate and understand that interested companies would not have playable demos ready and that due to resource issues, attending E3 in the summer would be an insurmountable hurdle for them. To those committed to attending E3 2023, we apologize that we cannot deliver the presentation you deserve and have come to expect from ReedPop,” added Marsden-Kish. However, according to the press release, this is not the end of E3, as ReedPop and ESA intend to continue working together at future E3s.
The previously spectacular fair, which was scheduled to run from June 13th to June 16th this year, was set to return in style this year, but interest in it has started to wane from both players and publishers. This year, however, the big players in the form of Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo were not supposed to be present, and in addition, a few days ago, Ubisoft unexpectedly turned around, which only recently promised E3 loyalty, a big show and a number of surprises. The loss of such an important exhibitor led to concerns about the entire fair, which was exacerbated by the fact that other promised presenting companies still had not been introduced. Sega and Tencent also later withdrew their participation, which caused the event to lose other big players. Even this should eventually lead to a postponement, as the requirements for its arrangement were not met, as it was also stated in that e-mail. It mentions that E3 is still a popular event and brand, but that this year’s edition has not achieved enough attention to be organized in a proper way to show size, strength and impact gaming industry.
Here’s 15-year old me at the first-ever E3 in 1995.
E3 meant so much to me and to so many of you too.
Four years ago, I realized that E3 wasn’t evolving as it needed to compete in a global, digital world. So we started building what’s next. See at @summergamefest June 8. pic.twitter.com/wSZqpz3wjY
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) March 30, 2023
Geoff Keighley was also quick to respond to the news of the cancellation. He recalled with a photo his first participation in the year 1995, when he was 15 years old. According to him, E3 meant a lot to him and many other people. But he didn’t hesitate to sit down and warm up his own soup. Four years ago, he said, he realized that E3 was not evolving as it should to be able to survive in the digital world. So he started building a rival with his colleagues. And it reminds us of our own Summer Game Fest, the start of which falls on June 8. Here, players should hopefully find their way and enjoy the new announcements, even if this year they will not traditionally meet directly at the exhibition center in Los Angeles. This time, however, the coronavirus is not to blame, which in 2020 fragmented the event into several digital events. Are we watching the demise of the famous E3? Who knows, maybe it’s not all over yet…
You can recall all the information about the E3 trade fair and the developments of the last days in our older articles.
