It’s official, E3 is dead – The ESA has permanently cancelled E3
Goodbye E3, we will miss you
It cannot be denied that E3 has had a huge impact on the gaming industry. For over two decades, E3 has been world’s largest gaming event. It has hosted the reveals of many consoles, the reveals of an insane number of games, and countless iconic gaming moments. Now the event is no more. The ESA have permanently cancelled the Electronics Entertainment Expo. E3 is dead
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, E3 has been plagued by issues. In 2020 the event was cancelled, in 2021 it was virtual only, and in 2022 and 2023 the event was cancelled again. The cancellation of E 2023 lead many to assume that E3 was a dead event. Simply put, the event no longer had the interest/investment to justify its existence.
— E3 (@E3) December 12, 2023
Even before the pandemic E3 faced issues, with most major publishers and console makers abandoning E3 in favour of bespoke reveal events. These events include Sony’s State of Play PlayStation events and Nintendo Direct. Publishers like Ubisoft, EA, and Bethesda also hosted their own separate gaming events. This drained a lot of funding from E3. In more recent years, E3 has also seen growing competition from events like Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards. Ultimately, these factors combined have lead to the death of E3.
Goodbye E3, we will miss you. So long, and thanks for all the memes.
You can join the discussion on the death of E3 on the OC3D Forums.
