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Ever since its first outing in 1995, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (better known as E3 worldwide) was THE yearly event that saw many gamers eagerly awaiting for the summer time to have news and updates on their favourites franchises and titles. Since then, each year the E3 was quite the occasion and the event to watch new trailers, and of course, weird and quirky interactions alike, which were the life of the event each year.

However, after more than 2 decades of being held each year, on December 12th, 2023, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has confirmed that the Electronic Entertainment Expo will be indefinitely closed down, marking the once-titan of gaming events worldwide as officially dead. This was confirmed by Stanley Pierre-Louis, the CEO and president of the nonprofit trade association that represents the games industry’s interests in the US.

We know the entire industry, players and creators alike have a lot of passion for E3. We share that passion. We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners.

There were fans who were invited to attend in the later years, but it really was about a marketing and business model for the industry and being able to provide the world with information about new products. Companies now have access to consumers and to business relations through a variety of means, including their own individual showcases.

The last time the E3 got a show in its original format was back in 2019, and in 2020, due to the pandemic, E3 was cancelled for the year, with the event only seeing a return in an online-only format for 2021, effectively making this its last iteration throughout its 26 years run. After 2021, there were still several attempts to revive the event, with attempts in both 2022 and 2023 being made, but each one getting cancelled after initial news of that the events would indeed be held in said years.

Since the several attempts at revivals of the E3, other gaming events have been brought up to the forefront, with such events like the Game Awards taking in a similar format to that of E3. However, to many people, the abundance of ads and formality of it all (not to mention that only a small percentage of it are actual awards), makes many feel like most of the recent gaming events don't pair up or capture the essence of what the E3 was back in its golden days.

Gamers worldwide can only remember back to those past E3s fondly, with the memories from the epic trailers and announcements like the Twilight Princess reveal back in 2004, to all those weird and cringe-inducing meme materials that made the E3 special.

Source

 

[Dontuuch17]

That's just too bad. I enjoyed reading the coverage from my gaming mags.

 

[LightBeam]

Yeah it's sad
People will say it was already bad blablabla, yeah sure you can't really hear people cheering or cringing when Nintendo announces something but it was still fine, it's not like there was just Nintendo. 99,99% of people were watching online anyway, it really was just about a few days of gaming news and « competition » of some sort and it was an event.
TGS and Gamescom are cool too but it's not like there were as many announcements reserved for these expos.
Now we basically have SGF and the Game Awards that do have announcements too so eh, of course there were going to be « replacements », hopefully they're bound to become even better.

 

[TJHeartnote]

Yeah it's sad
People will say it was already bad blablabla, yeah sure you can't really hear people cheering or cringing when Nintendo announces something but it was still fine, it's not like there was just Nintendo. 99,99% of people were watching online anyway, it really was just about a few days of gaming news and « competition » of some sort and it was an event.
TGS and Gamescom are cool too but it's not like there were as many announcements reserved for these expos.
Now we basically have SGF and the Game Awards that do have announcements too so eh, of course there were going to be « replacements », hopefully they're bound to become even better.

Well we still have PAX.

 

[The Catboy]

E3 has been a zombie for years now. Tragic to see it go but it's been a long time coming

 

[Emerald_Fox]

No more E3 builds of games

 

[tpax]

That makes me kind of sad. Primarily because I remember the excitement for the E3 coverage in the late 90s and early 00s. I remember staying awake until late night (EU time) to not have any release announcements slipping past me. Or the live streams that were introduced couple of years later. I remember having those discussions with my gamer-classmates at school after long nights with very little sleep. The E3 days were very magical days for someone who was as passionate about gaming as I was back in the day.
Of course it was nothing like that in the past couple of years, and it won't ever be. Where there is so much capital in play there is very little room for passion left. The gamescom is now primarily about running behind your favorite YouTuber and simping to get a selfie.

 

[Lostbhoy]

I didn't see yours tbh.
I saw the Washington Post article and started doing it, left it open for a while on editing since I'm at work right now so it took me a bit of time until I wrapped up the article's writing. Sorry

Don't be silly, no apology needed. Your the news hound! I just thought I'd post it as I didn't see it at the time and it woulda got lost eventually anyway!

 

[KingVamp]

We do need something that at least replaces the in person events.

 

[Sd4930Ur]

internet NOW ?

 

[Anxiety_timmy]

and so the dream of going to an in person E3 has been crushed

 

[Bladexdsl]

it only took them 3 years to realize it everyone else has known all along

 

[ZeroFX]

A good E3 is not something that can happen anymore in this and future generations. Better be dead.

 

[ChaoticPumpkin]

Sad to see it go, but I'm not surprised considering the last few E3s. Also, the ESA sucks. While not surprising, they are anti-repair and very anti-preservation.

 

[SDA]

Somehow I knew this was going to happen. They've tried their best to continue after the pandemic just to end up killing E3 for good.

After all, who does need E3 anymore? Nintendo has Nintendo Direct, Capcom has its own Capcom Showcase events, and so on.

 

[nWo]

Shit, this is hard to digest. I mean, I know that for some years it was on a downward spiral but, when I was a kid, before the net, I loved watching reports from the E3 on magazines. Those awesome pics, news from awesome games, Mr. Yamauchi, the Shoshinkai Show, damn, those were the times.

Pretty bummed to know that it is gone forever. But it will live on the memories of the millions of fans that, like me, enjoyed so many good times being amazed by all that effort the media, game companies and legendary figures like Yamauchi gave to all of us and the gaming community as a whole.

 

[codezer0]

Growing up, e3 was like the mecca of gaming. Everything that was worth looking forward to was there. The games that would only exist on the show floor were an awful feeling to come back to, of course.

Seems to me that right after the meme tacular that was the ps3 launch from Sony and nintendo mentally checking out in favor of TGS and Spaceworld, and eventually into their own Direct events, just saw it decline in quality and desirability. Right about the time it was possible for a non journalist to be able to attend at all.

The showcase was already going downhill way before the pandemic. Esa sucks, pax hasn't mattered past its own events, and nobody cares enough about Europe to present anything of worth at Gamescom. Sorry, but it's true.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

The industry in general is on a massive downward spiral in my opinion

 

[pedro702]

Covid showed companys they have the same reach or even bigger by just doing a twitter post rather than doing an expensive as hell presentation at e3, so no wonder they dont want to participate.

 

[HellGhast]

R.I.P

From all of us OG gamers, we will genuinely miss the good 'ol days of E3 spectacle.

 

[raging_chaos]

E3 has been having problems since the late 90s. Back then it was more about having the best rock party/rave presentations and tons of wasted cash on bands and celebrities so it was no surprise to find out senior high school/freshman college kids were sneaking in. Nintendo caused a mini-riot one year with their Pokemon display that would disperse the 'red cheeks Pikachu' promo card. E3 has always been a cash sink with very little payoff, I'm honestly surprised it took this long for it to die.