ReedPop and ESA have officially announced the cancelation of E3 2023 and the official account posted a Tweet confirming the same as well. The popularity of this conference has been on the decline since 2019. The 2020 show was canceled due to the pandemic, the 2021 show was online only, and they canceled again in 2022. Yet another cancellation this year begs the question: Is E3 even relevant now?
According to IGN, Nintendo, Sony, Xbox, Ubisoft, and Sega, all backed out from the conference, stating the lack of communication from the organizers or to host their own personal events as the reason.
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Fans are dejected as E3 2023 gets canceled
E3’s Twitter handle posted a Tweet confirming the cancellation of the event on March 31. The official Tweet read that both digital and physical events are being canceled.
News on #E32023 from the source. pic.twitter.com/BK7TUlb8mZ
— E3 (@E3) March 30, 2023
Fans have expressed their dismay at the cancellation of this event.
I watched E3 from 2008-2019.
Those were some cool years between the G4 channel on Dish Network and YouTube streams.
I’ll miss it.
— Your_Last_Nerve (@F0rg0tt3nPr0f1t) March 30, 2023
User @LJ061294 stated his disappointment about companies backing out from the event stating these studios better have new gameplay trailers lined up.
Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Naughty, Konami, Ubisoft and other studios better have a buttload of directs and a flood of game trailer reveals this June or heads will roll.
— Luke Johnson (@LJ061294) March 30, 2023
User @A21starman pointed out that companies are backing out because they would rather have a spotlight rather than compete with other companies on common grounds.
It’s sad, but I understand why. Gaming companies would much rather have a space for themselves to dominate the attention than compete over a weekend and compared to the competition.
— Matthew M. (@A21starman) March 30, 2023
Fans have also started speculating whether the reason for all these companies backing out is due to them hosting their events for launching their games. If this is the case, E3 will soon be obsolete.
Gaming companies hosting their events
E3 has been on the decline since the covid-19 pandemic. This, coupled with gaming companies now hosting their events, has made the event outdated. Gaming companies would rather host their events than go head-to-head with competition now. This is a major drawback to fans who want to see what’s new in the gaming world all in one place.
Nintendo, Sony, and Xbox had already denied going to E3 a few weeks ago. Events like Nintendo Direct, Sony State of Play, and Xbox’s Developer_Direct are now gaining more popularity than E3. Ubisoft had first agreed to be on the panel for E3 but now has backed out in favor of its event, Ubisoft Forward.
Hosting an event themselves gives the gaming companies a chance to set their timeline. Gaming studios now have the liberty to keep working on their project at their own pace and then host an event for it after. This also saves them from clashing the release date with titles from other gaming studios.
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The return of E3 is in doubt too, as Reedpop and ESA have not stated anything regarding its future. Die-hard gaming fans could only hope that E3 will return like its glory years.
Written by
Edited by
Jito Tenson