ESA has officially released a statement canceling E3 2023.
In a surprising turn of events, the Electronic Entertainment Association (ESA) has officially released a statement confirming the cancellation of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) this year. This comes after the past week, Ubisoft and Tencent had already confirmed their withdrawal from the massive event, and in Ubisoft’s case, doing their own “Ubisoft Forward” event on June 12 in Los Angeles.
The last E3 event, which was the largest in-person gaming expo of its time, was celebrated in 2019, before it was canceled in 2020 and beyond due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The future seems uncertain for the ESA, as larger gaming-related events, such as Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest and The Game Awards, gain more traction with gamers and worldwide audiences.
Nintendo, Xbox, and Sony have also hosted their events for years, with Nintendo Direct and Xbox and PlayStation Showcases, respectively, demonstrating the lack of need for these events to communicate directly with consumers without an intermediary.
Many developers also argue for the need for an in-person event, as networking and real connections cannot be made through just a live stream. Meeting new gamers to showcase their products goes a long way with the community, with PAX East and Gamescom being a few examples of these ongoing events.
It remains to be seen whether the ESA plans to make a comeback next year or decide to stop hosting E3 and try a different kind of event in the future. This news was first confirmed by the ESA to IGN.
