Summary
TheElectronic Entertainment Expohas been officially ended by the Entertainment Software Association. Afterthe cancelation of E3 2023due to a lack of interest from the gaming industry, the future of the famous convention was already in jeopardy, and this recent announcement is the final nail in E3’s coffin.
E3 had been seen as the most important convention in the gaming industry for decades. The event started back in 1995, and it remained strong up until the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when all in-person events were shut down, stopping the convention from happening. After the online version in 2021, and then cancelations in 2022 and 2023, as well as the rise of viable alternatives such as the Summer Game Fest,rumors regarding the cancelation of E3 2024and 2025 started to surface.
Now, the Entertainment Software Association has decided to endE3. The ESA came to this decision based on how gamers changed their habits during the pandemic. Not only that, but several of the ESA’s former partners decided to withdraw from the event, choosing to announce their games in other ways instead. While move away from E3 started with Nintendo launching its Nintendo Direct back in 2011, it became stronger after a year without E3 in 2020, and essentially all major gaming companies started following this model. According to Stanley Pierre-Louis, the CEO of ESA, “We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners.”
We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners.
When consideringhow unprofitable E3 2021 was, and how many of the recent events have been canceled, it’s not surprising to see the ESA deciding to end it. Back in 2021, the online-only version of E3 cost the organizations $6 million, while the event generated only $3.4 million. Without strong partnerships, it would be hard to reverse this trend.
Now that E3 is no more,the largest gaming conventionsstill standing are the Tokyo Game Show, Brasil Game Show, Taipei Game Show, and Gamescom. While these are all huge, important events from all over the world, none of them have the same legacy and historical importance as E3 had for many gamers over the years, which makes for a sad farewell to the big event. While some events die, though, others thrive. Summer Game Fest is already confirmed for 2024, will be set in Los Angeles like the defunct E3 was, and already has the confirmed presence of Xbox, Capcom, Annapurna Interactive, and others.
