Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, and other major players in the games industry have confirmed that they won’t have a presence on the E3 2023 show floor. Now the event itself won’t happen at all.
According IGNThe Entertainment Software Association has begun notifying members that while the show “remains a beloved event and brand,” plans for E3 2023 “simply didn’t generate the sustained interest needed to run it in a way that would show the size, strength and impact on our industry.”
The ESA has also released a statement from ReedPop’s Global Vice President of Gaming, Kyle Marsden-Kish:
This was a difficult decision because of all the effort that we and our partners put into making this event happen, but we had to do what was right for the industry and what was right for E3. We appreciate and understand that interested companies would not have playable demos ready and that resource challenges made being at E3 this summer a hurdle they couldn’t overcome. For those of you who committed to E3 2023, we’re sorry we couldn’t provide the showcase you deserve and have come to expect from ReedPop event experiences.
The event was supposed to take place June 13-16 in Los Angeles, and would have been the first in-person E3 event since 2019.
While the event may be cancelled, there’s likely still plenty of video game news to look forward to in June: Ubisoft previously announced it would be hosting its own event around the same time, and Nintendo and PlayStation typically hold digital events of their own in June. Microsoft previously committed to being a part of the E3 digital show and may still have announcements despite the lack of an E3 event itself. And, of course, there’s always Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest on June 8 in Los Angeles, albeit without competition.
Here’s 15-year-old me at the first E3 in 1995.
E3 meant a lot to me and a lot of you too.
Four years ago, I realized that E3 was not evolving the way it needed to compete in a global digital world. So we started building what’s next. To see in @summergamefest 8 of June. pic.twitter.com/wSZqpz3wjY
—Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) March 30, 2023
Engadget has contacted the ESA for comment.
All Engadget Recommended products are curated by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publication.
