The biggest gaming event of the year, Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3 2023, has been cancelled. Earlier, the event was set to return in June this year for an in-person event first time since 2019. But now, Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the organisation that organises the event every year has confirmed that the gaming event has been cancelled this year. Also Read - Sony announces offers on PlayStation Store games: Check full list of games
“ReedPop and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) have announced that both the digital ane physical events for E3 2023 are cancelled,” ESA said in a statement. Also Read - Microsoft’s Xbox games for PC arrive on Nvidia GeForce Now: What this means for gamers?
News on #E32023 from the source. pic.twitter.com/BK7TUlb8mZ Also Read - Layers of Fear remake set to launch in June this year: Check game features here
— E3 (@E3) March 30, 2023
According to an email sent to employees and verified by IGN, E3 2023 “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry.”
Following IGN’s report, ReedPop issued a formal statement regarding the cancellation of the event.
“This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3,” Kyle Marsden-Kish, global VP of gaming at ReedPop, was quoted as saying.
“We appreciate and understand that interested companies wouldn’t have playable demos ready and that resourcing challenges made being at E3 this summer an obstacle they couldn’t overcome. For those who did commit to E3 2023, we’re sorry we can’t put on the showcase you deserve and that you’ve come to expect from ReedPop’s event experiences,” Marsden-Kish added.
E3 2023 was scheduled for June 13 through June 16.
Why was E3 2023 cancelled?
The announcement comes after several major gaming companies decided to pull off from the annual gaming expo. Back in January 2023, three major gaming players — Sony’s PlayStation, Microsoft’s Xbox, and Nintendo — decided to pull out from the event opting to host individual events instead. Nintendo recently hosted Nintendo Direct 2023, and shortly after, Microsoft announced that it will be hosting the Xbox Games Showcase on June 11 this year.
More recently, Ubisoft announced a change of plans that included the company pulling out of the E3 2023 to host the Ubisoft Forward Live event on June 12 instead. The company had earlier confirmed its presence at the event. Shortly after Ubisoft’s announcement, Tencent and Sega too shared their plans of skipping the event this year.
It is worth noting that while the gaming expo has been cancelled this year, it remains unclear if its future iterations of the event have also been cancelled.
