E3 2023 is Canceled
- Paul Thurrott
- Mar 30, 2023
-
19
The organizers of the E3 videogame conference have succumbed to the inevitable and canceled this year’s show.
“ReedPop and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) have announced that both the digital and physical events for E3 2023 are canceled,” the official E3 Twitter account announced.
Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
In an email to members, the ESA separately noted that the show “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry.”
E3, like so much in life, succumbed to the global pandemic in 2020, and this year was supposed to mark its return. But we can’t just blame its death on the pandemic: Sony bailed on the show in 2019 and Microsoft had long operated a sort of show-within-a-show for Xbox timed to E3. But this year, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony also announced early on that they would not be attending E3 2023, and other major players, including Sega, Tencent, and Ubisoft followed.
ReedPop and the ESA said they will “continue to work together on future E3 events.” But it’s unclear if there will ever be enough interest for such a show.