It's Official, E3 2023 Has Been Cancelled

Image: ESA

E3 2023 will not be going ahead, the ESA has informed its members. This comes from IGN, who has confirmed the news with two separate sources

IGN was told that members were informed about the event's cancellation by email, which was sent out earlier today. In the email, the ESA stated that this year's 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."

This report follows a number of industry publishers pulling out of the event — Nintendo, Ubisoft, Sega, and Tencent are just a handful of publishers who had confirmed that E3 2023 either didn't fit into their plans or they had plans for a separate event. Microsoft also confirmed it wouldn't be attending, and Sony hasn't been to an E3 since 2018.

This year's showcase was planned to take place in Los Angeles from 13th to 16th June. Last year, the ESA teamed up with ReedPop to help bring back the event to a hybrid format. Full disclosure: Nintendo Life and its Hookshot Media sister sites are partnered with ReedPop.

The ESA has issued a public statement from Kyle Marsden-Kish, Global VP of Gaming, ReedPop, who admitted that "this was a difficult decision", but the choice was made because: "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."

Summer Game Fest is the major summer gaming event this year once again, then. Geoff Keighley's showcase kicks off on 8th June.

[source ign.com]