E3 2023 is cancelled due to a lack of interest

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced that 2023’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) will no longer go ahead.

In an email sent out to ESA members yesterday, the group said that E3 “remains a beloved event and brand”, but “did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry” this year.

E3 was supposed to take place between June 13, 2023 and June 16, 2023 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It would have been the first in-person event since 2019, following a cancellation in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a digital event in 2021, and another full-on event cancellation in 2022.

The E3 Expo has found itself becoming increasingly less relevant with each year, with competing in-person shows like PAX East, Summer Game Fest and Gamescom only increasing in popularity, and direct-to-consumer streaming events like Nintendo Direct and State of Play picking up the rest of the slack. 

This year’s event was supposed to mark a change in the tide, and was set to be organised and held by the pop culture events and internet media company ReedPop, who are currently the minds behind more successful trade shows like EGX London, and sites like Eurogamer and VG247. 

“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,” said Kyle Marsden-Kish, global VP of gaming at ReedPop. 

“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.”

ReedPop has announced that it will work with the ESA on “future E3 events”, although further details on what, when and where those will be have yet to be confirmed.

Disclosure: Vince Pavey is also occasionally a feature contributor to VG247, and as such works with ReedPop on a freelance basis.