E3 2023 has officially been canceled. A new report from IGN confirmed the cancellation of the event just days after more companies pulled out of the show.
E3 was set to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 13-16. It was the first in-person E3 since 2019 and was being put on by ReedPop.
According to IGN, the news was broken to team members via an internal email from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) on Thursday. The email said that the show “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.”
After the story broke, the ESA sent out a release on the cancellation.
“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,” ReedPop Global VP of Gaming Kyle Marsden-Kish said. “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.”
Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw heard from a source on Tuesday that a statement regarding the status of E3 2023 was likely to come by the end of the week. With IGN obtaining an internal announcement, a public announcement could come at any time.
Ahead of the cancelation of the event, multiple publishers and studios announced they wouldn’t be involved, including:
- Sony
- Microsoft
- Nintendo
- Sega
- Ubisoft
- Tencent
- Devolver Digital
Insider Gaming has reached out to ReedPop and the ESA multiple times for comment, but all requests have gone unanswered.
What do you think of E3 2023 being canceled?
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After all we’ve been through, I sure hope it’ll come back next year. BTW, 1995 was the year it made its debut. And if it will be held in 2025, they’ll celebrate its 30th anniversary.