E3 is officially dead

Domagoj Belancic

12/12/2023

Translation: machine translated

What was once the world's biggest video games trade fair is closing its doors for good. The demise of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has been a long time coming.

With a post on X, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announces the end of E3. The organisation writes: "After more than two decades as a key showcase for the video games industry, the ESA has decided to bring E3 to an end." In an interview with the Washington Post, Stanley Pierre-Louise, President and CEO, added: "We know it's hard to say goodbye to such a beloved event. But given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners, it's the right thing to do."

What is the ESA?

The Entertainment Software Association is a not-for-profit trade association for the video games industry. The organisation advocates for the interests of its members at a political level. These include all major publishers such as Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA and Activision. The ESA also oversees the ESRB, the US equivalent of the European PEGI rating system. E3 has been organised by the ESA since 1995.

E3 was once the largest and most important video games trade fair in the world. Every year in June, thousands of trade visitors made the pilgrimage to the halls of the LA Convention Centre. Publishers and studios presented their latest games there for a week with presentations, trailers and demos. New hardware was also regularly shown at the trade fair. The numerous press conferences surrounding E3 were also a major part of the event. At these, the big players such as Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo vied for the attention of media representatives and outdid themselves with incredibly elaborate stage shows.

The demise of the event had been looming for years. More and more publishers no longer wanted to pay the sometimes horrendous costs for exhibition space in the Convention Centre and the pompous stage shows. Instead, more and more big players concentrated on self-hosted livestreams and showcases. The first of these was Nintendo in 2013, when the company held its first "Nintendo Direct" - a pre-recorded stream - instead of an elaborate press conference on site. Other publishers followed suit. EA, for example, completely cancelled the event in 2016. Followed by Sony, which turned its back on E3 2019.

In addition to the digitalisation of press events, E3 has further alienated many publishers and media professionals with questionable conceptual decisions. In 2015, for example, the event was made accessible to ordinary fans, much to the displeasure of the trade audience. In 2020, E3 was even to be transformed into a "fan, media and influencer festival". But it never got that far. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, E3 was completely cancelled that year. This was followed by a digital-only E3 in 2021, which satisfied neither publishers nor media professionals. The event was cancelled again in 2022 and 2023.

Since 2020, industry guru Geoff Keighley has also established a parallel event with his "Summer Game Fest", where publishers can present their games both digitally and on site. Keighley's annual "Game Awards" in December has also developed into a mini-E3 in winter over the years. The need for another industry-wide event has been further diminished by these new events.

The ESA and Stanley Pierre-Louise have now also accepted this: "Every major publisher can create customised showcases and collaborate with other industry events to showcase their games. This is exciting for our industry, and it means it's an opportunity to explore how to engage new audiences in different ways."

Domagoj Belancic

Senior Editor

Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.ch

My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.