E3 2023 has been officially canceled
E3 is officially dead- for 2023 anyway. Following a slew of developers and publishers announcing that they would not be appearing at the show, the ESA (creators and runners of the event) have put out a statement confirming that E3 would no longer be going ahead this year. In a public statement, the Global VP of Gaming for ReedPop (organizers of the event), Kyle Marsden-Kish, had the following to say:
“This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen… 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”
This news comes just days after Ubisoft became the fourth main publisher to drop out of the event entirely- after Nintendo, Xbox, and Sony all confirmed the same earlier this year. Opting to instead hold their own live conferences in Los Angeles, E3 was already looking quite bare with how many companies would actually be attending- with more likely to drop out before the event in June.
The reason so many decided to drop out is mainly due to two reasons. The first is related to cost. By holding your own digital-only event, you’re able to reach the same customer base without the need to pay for a stage, show floor presence, or any other fees that inevitably come about with running an in-person event. The second is related to sterilization. By creating a pre-filmed and pre-edited video, there are infinitely fewer problems that could arise as opposed to holding a live show. The more control the developer has over the showcase, the more streamlined and professional it can be. The downside to this is that the charm of E3s blunders and mistakes is lost- but that’s likely not something big game developers are worried about.
Although 2023’s event was canceled in this announcement, the full statement does mention that they hope to return for future events. However, after the huge impact that COVID-19 had on the in-person showcase and the lack of a show in 2022, the future of E3 is more uncertain than ever. If the trend of publishers holding their own, cheaper conferences continues, we may very well not see another full-fledged E3 again.
