E3 2023 Has Been Canceled

E3 2023 is canceled. IGN reports. This news is coming after several major publishers withdrew from the event over recent weeks.

IGN Report on TuesdayMajor publishers declined to be there or did not know whether the event would happen due to the lack of communication from ReedPop and ESA. Today, IGN The ESA received an email explaining to them that they had not been able to generate the interest needed for the show in order to showcase its size and strength.

Official E3 Twitter Account now Available publicly confirmedThe cancellation is described in the following statement. 

However, IGN received a press release stating that ReedPop and the ESA will continue to work together on “future E3 events”. We don’t know if that means they will attempt again next year or invent something totally new under E3 branding. 

Fans of the event are disappointed by the latest news, but the signs have been there for a while. It had been reported that the three console makers – Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo – were pulling out, with Nintendo formally declining. Ubisoft dropped out in favor of holding a live event during Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest. Sega followed Tencent’s lead shortly thereafter.

This was supposed to be E3’s big return as an in-person convention, the first of its kind since 2019. Even though the show was on the decline, it suffered a severe blow from the COVID-19 epidemic. The 2020 show was canceled, the 2021 version was an online-only event, and last year’s event was shut down again. In an age where developers/publishers can deliver big announcements using pre-recorded videos or livestreams without paying a ton of money for a floor booth and spend months preparing playable demos, it’s become increasingly challenging for E3 to justify its existence in its traditional state. Although it’ll be exciting to see what ReedPop or the ESA come up, E3 will remain dormant for now.