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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

 

[Xanthe]

Not like there are many videos games that get me excited nowadays anyways. What a weird time for gaming for me; its been the least appealing its ever been.

 

[LightBeam]

Well we still have PAX.

Don't really know what PAX is and from what I've seen it seems that it's more like a showcase of playable demos, isn't it ? I don't remember huge announcements being made at PAX

Post automatically merged: Dec 12, 2023

E3 has always been a cash sink with very little payoff, I'm honestly surprised it took this long for it to die.

It probably wouldn't have died if it wasn't for covid that basically pushed the need for alternatives and made E3 irrelevant immediately (because you know ... if nobody can have a stage, then there no use for an event)
It's not about bringing cash either, it's about show. Reminds me of basically every esports that exists : it always bleeds cash yet it's still there because it sells games. E3 was the same in that regard.

 

[Delerious]

It's a damn shame, but we all saw it coming. RIP E3. 'Tis a pity how poorly handled you were in the second half of your life.

 

[AlexMCS]

Summer Games Fest is a mess of its own, and now we have only it to look forward to

Tokyo. Game. Show.

 

[PacBunnyXV07]

Thanks Geoff Keighley!

 

[ZeroT21]

Good riddance, it died. It was so lacking for years

 

[DoctorBagPhD]

Not true, E3 is very much alive and well ;p

 

[Error-1-2435-8325]

Good riddance.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go and play "Sakuya Izayoi Gives You Advice and Dabs".

 

[JuanMena]

You really can't kill what was already dead.

They fucked up when they cared more for money than delivering a good experience.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

Yerp... RIP E3 indeed...

 

[Jayro]

and the game turned out to be crap but whatever

It really didn't... It's fantastic.

 

[K3Nv2]

It's really sad. The ESA just couldn't figure it out, and mismanaged one of the biggest events in gaming to its death. Actually pathetic.

Summer Games Fest is a mess of its own, and now we have only it to look forward to, which is tragic. It only exists to be a boring, bloated, less interesting E3.

Weren't you actually at the last "big event" they did?

 

[Chary]

Weren't you actually at the last "big event" they did?

Yep! I went 2017, 2018, 2019 (the last E3)

All were super cool and very fun to see! I feel lucky I was able to go! Even the last years of E3, while the showcases weren't as fun for people at home, it was incredible to be in the room when Keanu Reeves did his whole, "you're breathtaking!" shtick.

 

[K3Nv2]

Yep! I went 2017, 2018, 2019 (the last E3)

All were super cool and very fun to see! I feel lucky I was able to go! Even the last years of E3, while the showcases weren't as fun for people at home, it was incredible to be in the room when Keanu Reeves did his whole, "you're breathtaking!" shtick.

Did you ask him if he was Neo or John Wick at the current time?

 

[ertaboy356b]

Still better than The Game Awards by a mile. Sad that the streaming age killed it.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

RIP E3, you will be missed.
I always wanted to go, and after they opened it up to the public, that finally became a possibility, so I'm sad I never got to live out that dream.
On one hand, it would've been 90% waiting in queues and 10% actually getting to try out new games, and I hate standing in queues. On the other hand, I would've been happy just to be able to experience it, to look at things, etc. It would be a once in a lifetime experience regardless of whether I even bothered to stand in queue to try out demos.
The year BotW was shown off seemed like something truly special. The way Nintendo decorated their booth in the theme of BotW was really something, I would've loved to be there in person to see that rather than experience it through the cameras of other people.

Nintendo DIrect kinda serves the same purpose as E3 did, but they never seem to have the quantity of big reveals that a good E3 would have, instead preferring to spread out the big reveals over the year and pad it out with in depth information about already revealed games (something I don't really care for much, I don't want too much spoiled for me before I even get the game and a lot of it is just repeating information that was already revealed, and it feels like there's only 5 minutes of new reveals I actually care about in a 45 minute Direct)

 

[Viri]

Spoiler

In hindsight, they should have probably said "NO" to this. I knew there was no coming back after this.

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

My reaction to this information

 

[subcon959]

It's actually amazing it lasted as long as it did considering the circumstances.

 

[Payne]

F
End of an era