ESA says E3 conference won't be returning

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has confirmed that that E3 conference is officially cancelled, presumably for good.

It was just three months ago that the agreement with organizing company ReedPop was ended, without them ever getting a chance to host the event in two years. However at that time, ESA still said it planned for E3 to return in 2024 or later. But now, it seems the show is done for good.

Speaking to Washington Post, Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of ESA has stated that “After more than two decades of hosting an event that has served as a central showcase for the U.S. and global video game industry, the Entertainment Software Association has decided to bring E3 to a close."

E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual trade event for the video game industry since 1995. Over the decades, it went through a variety of format changes, being closed and open to public, and so on. In its most recent, and what turned out to be the final year, the 2019 event celebrated 66,100 in attendance. But since then, shows in 2020 through 2023 were full of organizational issues and confusion, some being cancelled early, while others with just a few months to go.

“There were fans who were invited to attend in the later years, but it really was about a marketing and business model for the industry and being able to provide the world with information about new products. Companies now have access to consumers and to business relations through a variety of means, including their own individual showcases," said Stanley Pierre-Louis.

In time, perhaps the event will return in some form, as while E3 may be dead, another new event namesake may yet take its place. For us at NGN, having covered the convention every year between 2011 and 2019, E3 will be missed, and there is currently no other event like it.

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