The E3 was supposed to welcome thousands of visitors again in June 2023. But after many developer studios bailed out, the event was cancelled
What many had already suspected after the last cancellations is now certain: There will be no E3 2023. The trade show has been cancelled, the future of what was once the most important event of the gaming year is unclear.
What’s behind the cancellation of E3 2023?
In recent weeks, several major studios such as Sony, Nintendo and Ubisoft had cancelled their participation – in the end, there were simply too few exhibitors left to justify the effort and expense of such a large trade show event.
Actually, E3 2023 should have been the big comebackafter the show either didn’t happen at all or held a digital event in previous years due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
Reactions to the cancellation have been mixed. Geoff Keighley, the organiser of fledgling rival show Summer Game Fest, shares a personal memory. He says E3 used to mean a lot to him, but he realised early on that it wasn’t adapting to the digital era.
Many former fans of E3 (complain) that the show hasn’t been what it once stood for for several years now: the big event of the gaming year, with hundreds of exciting reveals, events and parties.
Here’s 15-year-old me at the first-ever E3 in 1995.
E3 meant so much to me and to so many of you too.
Four years ago, I realised that E3 wasn’t evolving as it needed to compete in a global, digital world. So we started building what’s next. See at @summergamefest June 8 pic.twitter.com/wSZqpz3wjY
– Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) March 30, 2023
Who will replace E3 2023? The aforementioned Summer Game Fest has established itself as an alternative in recent years. It takes place from 8 to 13 June 2023 and we firmly expect big names to be on the line-up again this time. In 2022, for example, Sony, Microsoft, Bethesda and Epic were there.
And there are of course many more events to come, as publishers increasingly rely on their own digital showcases.
Is E3 now at the end? There is of course speculation about this in the social media at the moment. The future plans of the trade fair are currently unclear.
Are you surprised by the cancellation of what was once the world’s biggest video game show or did you already expect E3 to be cancelled again? Will you miss the event or do you feel that Summer Game Fest or the publisher events are just fine? We will of course inform you about every important trade fair at GlobalESportNews!
