Less than a year after E3 was announced to return, the ESA and ReedPop have officially stated that E3 2023 will no longer be taking place this year, with cancellations being sent out to those who were set to attend the event. E3 has struggled over the past few years with various global circumstances, but with ReedPop at the helm, it seemed like E3 was set to bounce back.
Then, over the past few weeks, more and more big outlets such as Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and Ubisoft, were not looking to attend, since big publishers opted out of the event in favor of more personal and vastly cheaper digital alternatives.
Following initial reports by IGN, Global VP of Gaming for ReedPop, Kyle Marsen-Kish made this public 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.
While the future of E3 is still a bit of a mystery, it’s likely that both the ESA and ReedPop just didn’t have the proper runway to really take advantage of such an undertaking, especially in light of major publishers opting for their own Direct-like presentations over the past few years. While E3 may eventually make a return in some capacity, it’s unlikely that the big spectacle event may ever return.