E3 2023 has been canceled. The Entertainment Software Association announced the news to its members earlier today and confirmed it publicly shortly thereafter. The ESA’s email said that the event “simply failed to garner the long-term interest needed to make it happen in a way that demonstrates the size, strength and impact of our industry.”
ESA’s email has been shared by several sources with IGN. A joint statement was released by ESA and the organizer of this year’s event, ReedPop.
“This was a difficult decision as we and our partners went to great lengths to make this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3,” Kyle said. Marsden-Kish, ReedPop Global Vice President of Gaming. “We appreciate and understand that interested companies will not have playable demos available and resource challenges have made being present at E3 this summer an obstacle they cannot afford. To those who have committed to E3 2023, we apologize for not being able to showcase what you deserve and what you expect from the ReedPop event experience.”
ReedPop is also the owner of Rock Paper Shotgun.
The return of E3 is announced in July last year, but recent months have seen several companies confirm that they will not be attending, including first-party console makers. Ubisoft, who originally announced their intention to appear, withdrew last week, followed by Sega and Tencent in the days since.
This year is Electronic Entertainment Expo’s first in-person event since 2019. The repeat event of 2020 has been canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a digital-only event to be held in 2021. The 2022 event was similarly canceled. 2023 is also the first E3 held in partnership with ReedPop, the company behind PAX and other pop culture events.
