With a number of developers and publishers such as Ubisoft, Sega, Tencent, and Devolver Digital recently adding to the long list of developers that will not be attending E3 this year today the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the show organizers ReedPop announced that E3, initially set to run in June has been canceled.
In a statement (via VGC) ReedPop’s global VP of gaming Kyle Marsden-Kish spoke on the difficult decision to finally pull the plug on the show.
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… 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.
Kyle Marsden-Kish – Global VP of Gaming at ReedPop
While E3 2023 has been canceled the statement from Marsden-Kish notes that both the ESA and ReedPop will continue to work together on “future E3 events.” In an earlier article from IGN, it was reported that the ESA had emailed its members earlier today to make them aware of the event’s cancellation. The email said that E3 “remains a beloved event and brand” but that the 2023 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.”
While E3 has been canceled for 2023 Geoff Keighley, organizer of Summer Game Fest took to Twitter to speak on the recent news noting that his event would still be going ahead.
E3 meant so much to me and to so many of you too. Four years ago, I realized that E3 wasn’t evolving as it needed to compete in a global, digital world. So we started building what’s next. See at Summer Game Fest June 8.
Geoff Keighley
This news isn’t particularly surprising if you’ve been keeping track of the number of developers and publishers opting not to attend the conference this year. Notably, E3’s event was thrown into question when Ubisoft backtracked on their initial promise to attend E3 stating they wished to “move in a different direction.”
