TechEnvoke
Following a story that broke the news, the Entertainment Software Association and ReedPop announced that E3 2023 has been cancelled. E3 2023 was scheduled for June 13–June 16.
IGN reported earlier today that two of its sources received an email from the Entertainment Software Association stating that this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo has been cancelled because it “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.” Soon later, a tweet from the official E3 account announced that “both the digital and physical events for E3 2023 are cancelled.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has made it difficult for E3, formerly a significant yearly trade exhibition for the video game industry, to resurge. E3 was not held in 2020 or 2022, and a 2021 attempt at the expo that was only available online fell short of expectations. The ESA was working with PAX organizer ReedPop to revive the exhibition this year, and they had even approved press credentials for the event. But, it looks that developers and publishers have lost faith in E3. After initially agreeing to attend, Ubisoft withdrew from the event earlier this week, while Sega, Bandai Namco Entertainment, and Level Infinite later made the same announcement.
Even though E3 2023 won’t take place, there will still be plenty of other things to look forward to. On June 8, Geoff Knightley will host a Summer Game Fest show; on June 11, Microsoft will have a Starfield direct and larger demonstration; and on June 12, Ubisoft will host a Ubisoft Forward Live event in Los Angeles.