E3 2023 Has Officially Been Cancelled

Event organisers ESA and ReedPop have officially confirmed that E3 2023 has been cancelled.

Following a laundry list of concerning signs, Kyle Marsden-Kish, Global VP of Gaming at Reedpop, confirmed the cancellation with the following statement:

“This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3. 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 and that you’ve come to expect from ReedPop’s event experiences.”

https://twitter.com/E3/status/1641546610218811393?s=20

This statement came after an IGN report was published, claiming that the event had been canned, with sources stating that this year’s big return “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.”

While this news is unfortunate, the writing was on the wall, with Nintendo, Sony and Xbox all stating that they would have no presence at the event, which was soon followed by similar announcements from Ubisoft, Devolver Digital, Sega, Tencent.

The E3 website alludes to an uncertain future for the once-titanic event, with a statement on the splash page saying, “Alongside the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), both parties will re-evaluate the future of E3.”

With publishers largely choosing to hold their own showcases throughout the year and the rise of combined events such as Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards, the future is looking bleak for E3.

Are you saddened to hear this news? What do you think will happen to E3 moving forward? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.

Shoutouts to IGN.