In a move that I think we all saw coming, E3 has officially been cancelled… Again.
The state of this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo has been up in the air for the past few months, considering one publisher after another was publicly coming out to say they wouldn’t be making an appearance at the event. It led many, including myself, to wonder if the event was going to happen at all.
And, as you can probably tell from the headline, it looks like it’s not! According to IGN, an email was sent out by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announcing that E3 would not be returning in 2023. This has later been confirmed publicly by ReedPop and the ESA themselves.
News on #E32023 from the source. pic.twitter.com/BK7TUlb8mZ
— E3 (@E3) March 30, 2023
The ESA’s email reportedly states that while E3 is still considered “a beloved event and brand”, this year’s show “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.” Based on that, you can probably get a good idea of why it got scrapped.
Back in January, it was reported that all three of the biggest video game companies, Microsoft, PlayStation, and Nintendo, would not be making appearances at E3 2023, and were opting instead to do their own thing or nothing at all. With their big moves came an avalanche of cancellations.
Ubisoft revealed that they would instead be opting to do their own showcase, which led IGN to ask any other publishers they could think of if they were going. Sega, Tencent, and Bandai Namco all replied, revealing that they were going with other options. Even Devolver Digital decided to not return to their parking lot.
I think anybody could’ve seen E3 getting cancelled this year from a mile away.
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