E3 organizers say the gaming expo will return after its third cancellation in four years, but the industry’s relationship with the show is at crisis point.
As news spread of E3 2023’s cancellation on Thursday, Games Twitter went straight into obituary mode. Developers, journalists, industry types, and fans shared their memories of the show; among them was erstwhile E3 presenter Geoff Keighley, who segued from a nostalgic show-floor photo to crowing promotion for his rival Summer Game Fest event in the space of a single tweet. Despite assurances from organizers the Entertainment Software Association and events company ReedPop that they would “continue to work together on future E3 events,” the general assumption seems to be that there was no coming back from this. “RIP E3” is trending. E3 seems dead for good.
The telling detail is that so many reminiscences of great E3 moments hinge on events that weren’t, technically, part of the show at all. For every story of a connection made on the vast, noisy show floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center (like this one, from former Polygon editor Arthur Gies), there were 10 more about the grandstanding showmanship and hilarious fails of the publisher press conferences that gathered alongside it: Sony owning Microsoft over its games ownership debacle, or Shigeru Miyamoto appearing with sword and shield to announce The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
There’s no doubt that these indelible moments, and others like them, were born from the hubbub, the fan ardor, and the competitive energy of the E3 show itself. But they weren’t actually part of it. They happened away from the show floor, at private events staged by publishers and platform holders. E3 was the reason these events came into being. But now those companies have realized they don’t need it for them to continue.
So what went wrong? And is this really it for E3, or can it come back?
E3 2023 was supposed to be a comeback for an event that had not taken place since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic had wiped out in-person shows, and an attempt at a digital event in 2021 had been a waste of time. The ESA recruited ReedPop, organizer of PAX, New York Comic Con, and Star Wars Celebration (and my former employer), to create a new, hybrid public and trade event in consultation with exhibitors. It would still take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, but it would have an online component, too.
Earlier this year it became apparent that neither Nintendo nor Microsoft would be taking part in E3 2023. (Neither would Sony, but that was no surprise; it hadn’t attended in 2019 either.) The show has historically leaned hard on the presence of the console platform-holders, and this was a serious blow, although Microsoft said it would still hold a showcase event before the show.
