(New York) The 2023 edition of the American video game show E3, one of the most important world events in the industry, has been canceled, organizers announced on Thursday, leaving doubts about the next editions.
Posted at 10:52 p.m
Events company ReedPop, responsible for running the show through Entertainment Software Association (ESA), said on E3’s official website that the cancellation affected the entire program, in-person or online, originally scheduled for June 13-16 was planned.
ReedPop and ESA “will be considering the future of E3,” the two parties jointly stated.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo was established in Los Angeles (California) in 1995 and brings together the main players in the video game industry every year.
E3 did not take place in 2020 due to the pandemic before returning in fully virtual form the following year and being put on hold again in 2022.
The organizers have not publicly communicated the reasons for their decision.
However, in an email sent by ESA to its members and forwarded by the specialist website IGN, the organization explained that the 2023 edition “did not generate the interest necessary” to bring to life a show “which has the size, power and… Realized size would impact our industry.
For more than ten years, the E3 has been considered to be losing momentum, on the one hand because the giants of the industry are presenting their innovations there less and less frequently.
Large console manufacturers and game publishers are increasingly favoring custom launches over these trade shows, often choosing to host their own events.
Xbox, Sony, Nintendo or even Ubisoft had all decided not to go to E3 this year before the cancellation.
Other major events have nevertheless managed to return face to face after the pandemic, notably Paris Games Week, which attracted 150,000 visitors at the Porte de Versailles in early November, or the Tokyo Game Show, attended by almost 140,000 people , in Sep 2022.