The Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, is officially dead. A statement on the official website simply reads: "After more than two decades of E3, each one bigger than the last, the time has come to say goodbye. Thanks for the memories."
In a report by the Washington Post, the Entertainment Software Association — which organised E3 each year — has confirmed the exhibition won't be coming back. President and CEO of the ESA Stanley Pierre-Louis, shared the news that the show is coming to a close "after more than two decades of hosting an event that has served as a central showcase for the U.S. and global video game industry".
E3 began in 1995 and has been a mainstay in the gaming industry's calendar. It started purely as an event for publishers and developers to market their games to retail buyers and the press, but was eventually made more public-facing, and invited fans to the showfloor too. With increasingly larger and more expensive press conferences from the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Ubisoft, it slowly became too big to properly please industry pundits and fans.
After the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, E3 has failed to make a meaningful return to form. In the last few years, new competitors have emerged and major publishers handle their own presentations themselves. The writing had been on the wall for a while, but now the show is officially done.
"We know the entire industry, players and creators alike have a lot of passion for E3. We share that passion," said Pierre-Louis. "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."
It's definitely a shame to see E3 shut down completely. Even though it faltered in later years, it's an iconic part of the games industry, and has played host to some incredibly memorable moments, both good and bad. It was a dinosaur, but we'll absolutely still miss it.
Are you sad to see E3 be cancelled for good? Tell us in the comments section below.
[source e3expo.com, via washingtonpost.com]
Comments 60
It was so awesome back in the day, so kinda sad it's gone now.
It's a bit sad to see it gone, but I mean, this thing was in a come for a couple of years now.
i thought it was officially dead years ago
I always enjoyed the press conferences, but with directs and showcases from the big three and publishers, e3 was obsolete.
Went to e3 in 98 and it was awesome
Not a fan of this news. The directs have just not been the same, nowhere near as good so far.
Me and the wife have so many good memories from watching E3 over the years, such a shame.
Thanks for all the memories🥲.
You just had to be there man🥲.
I still remember coming back home in the summer of 2016, turning on my laptop to catch up on some news, and to my surprise not only was a new God of war announced but a new Spider Man game as well? I pretty much fainted on the spot😂.
E3 as always been cool.but sony PlayStation made it even better.i remember the very first e3 in 1995.it was amazing.been a PlayStation fan since day 1 here in queens new york relly made sony stand out.a lot of amazing games got theyre first reveals at e3.it was the superbowl of video games and the nba final of video games.etc.it was that special.when PlayStation was there it was easily the most hyped one.word up son
It's honestly such a strange feeling. The writing has been on the wall for years now but it's still so weird to see that E3 is indeed truly gone.
I had always wanted to attend an E3 in person when I was a teenager back in the day, and now it just doesn't exist.
Geoff Keighley gave them the "wrap it up now" prompt 🙈
E3 is dead. Long live Keigh3🤣🤣
E3 will be missed, I remember all the years I stayed up til 3/4am in the morning to watch the showcases. The one I will remember the most though is the year with the FF7 Remake and The Last Guardian reveals, such a great feeling during that show.
I think its a bit sad because E3, for all it's flaws, was a public event. Summer Games Fest is probably much more convenient for journalists, less people around, better access to devs, guaranteed seats etc etc, but it doesn't have the same magic.
Sad but not surprising. E3 lost its relevancy to me once PlayStation bounced a few years back. Without them, it was never the same.
E3 was so great and full of hype for so many years, but it felt like a shell of it's former self over the last few shows.
I always remember growing up and getting out of school for the summer and looking forward to everything announced at E3. It was literally Christmas in June.
It's genuinely kind of sad when you see what has replaced such an exhibition is literally zero communication in the case of Playstation, and just a endless stream of trailers with game fest. Then we have the disrespectful overshadowing of devs and the medium in favor of marketing that is the game awards.
Really wish E3 came back with a comic con type of fan service orient. However it's now a scenario where platform holders, devs, and publishers have commodified so much in terms of PR priorities that the path of least cost takes precedence over fan service, or even releasing finished games for that matter. Or just zero PR at all...
Never made sense for all theses games battling it out for attention in the space of a few days & fuelling the fanboy wars.
They should consider scaling it back to what it was. Invite indies & AA studios to promote their games/concept to big publishers & investors. Could even invite some journalists to spotlight some of these games.
Just don’t call it E3 & keep fans out of it. That way the ESA could actually ‘serve’ the industry.
What a shame. The event was totally mismanaged, but I have many fond memories of E3 and will miss it. Sweet Tooth (the name of ice cream truck, not the driver) rolled out on stage to announce Twisted Metal for PS3. That was beyond epic!
This is way worse news than I think what most journalists realise. E3 was a trade show, having a booth was a way for devs to get a seat at the table and show their game in the best possible light. Forget the conferences, the hands on element of E3 was hugely important to win over journos. The Game Awards is built on hype culture, the trailers are often cinematic or cut in a way that generates discussion or tease viewers. This completely screws over loads of games that just aren’t that sort of deal, that rely on gameplay deep dives. Plus you have to fight insanely hard to get even a passing mention, never mind get a trailer into a show which is meticulously timed.
Good bye, and good riddance E3
Man I used to love E3 week, would take time off just to watch certain conferences, but the writing has been on the wall for a while now. Not suprising but still a bit sad to see it go
This is extremely sad news. E3 was like a summer Christmas and incredibly important for the industry. While we all watched the showcases, the physical event was a place where there were hands on experiences that showed us where the industry was headed.
Its a shame, but it was inevitable once they opened it to the public. It should have remained a place for the industry to come together and network, having public attendance killed it.
The same was true of Ects, which was held in London every year. It was a great place to network, but within 2 years of letting the public in, was dead.
In an age of digital delivery I guess such shows were always gonna wain.
Sad to see it go, good times! E3 was a you just had to be there type thing, getting ready for "Christmas for gamers" week, watching all the press conferences, the megatons, seeing the companies battle it out & react in real time to what each other did, all the live coverage from classic G4, Spike TV, etc. So fun!
Shawn Layden sadly called it, the moment they opened it up it was done.
It used to be amazing and felt like a second Christmas. Then it got stale. When Sony left, it was pretty much dead already. Was already dying before then
That PS4 E3 with FF7remake was wild
2 recent standout moments for me at E3 was the amazing premier of God of War. That was probably the best reveal that I saw over all the years that I watched it! Another was Devil May Cry 5 being announced after years of wondering if it would ever be a thing at the Xbox conference. I still watch both of these reveals on YouTube now and then and it still gives me goosebumps!😄 I watched the last 7 or 8 shows with my daughter, it was the highlight of our gaming year!! And I always used to say to my wife that July was a very important month, we got married then, but I always meant it was time for E3! She never saw the funny side of that! 😂
Sad to see it go but not surprised. An end of era right there.
Once Sony stopped appearing it was never the same, E3 2016 was the last time it was good.
Funny, in previous news stories about e3s troubles the comment section would just mostly gloat and shout into the echo chamber how unnecessary it is, and now where it's actually gone people miss it. Typical!
Sad? Yes
Surprised? No
A true shame. The new showcases/directs are fine but they will never have the same soul as a good E3 Press Conference.
I get why it's gone but it doesn't make it hurt any less. RIP E3.
@tameshiyaku I know what you mean. I guess this comment section is filled with the people who actually cared about E3.
It's not a surprise, but it's sad that it's officially the end of an era.
It followed G4. It’s a gamer revolution rotating rigmarole.
I guess online platforms like youtube giving publishers and developers greater reach to their community for significantly lower cost, and the likes of Summer Game Fest dealt massive damage to E3 (pun intended).
I'll miss it, for all its issues. I have great memories of getting hyped for various showcases and i liked the reliability- you knew what month Sony would be announcing the latest and greatest releases, whereas now its a lottery and we are at the whim of when they randomly decide to announce stuff.
So its farewell from me and a thank you for the memories. It had lost its way and it was probably its time - but while it lasted, it was fab
This news made me sadder than I expected. Likely since I grew up with it. Even though it had become irrelevant in the digital age, still sad to see it go.
I have nothing against each publisher having their own online presentations (and have no nostalgia for E3 whatsoever), but why can't publishers at least release them in the same week in June? Why are they now spread out from June to September (or more)?
A real shame.
I do not think JeffFest fills the void. I think Keoghleys events epitomize all the worst elements of E3.
Yes, in practice it already was. It was clear Gamescom and TGA are the big events of the year. Gamescom was bigger than E3 for quite some time already in terms of visitors and the ESA was way too vulnerable to publisher interests and it was a show for shareholders. Better this way. The focus is back on the gamers.
Awesome. Time for E4 then.
It wasn't until they started inviting Twitch influencers with booths is when I knew it was dead.
They shoot horses, don't they?
Not surprised at all. The last few years was a slow death for E3. Will I miss it, sure. There was nothing like taking the day off of work to watch the announcements. It's when I made the decision to go with a PS4 instead of an Xbox One a few years ago. It's where I first took Sony seriously as a gaming company. It will be missed but it's no surprise it's not returning.
So Long and thanks for all the Fish....
It’s like and aged loved one you know is going away, but you have amazing memories with them and hate to see them leave. Sad, but expected…and we all had time to prepare. R.I.P. E3.
Disappointed that Sony’s last E3 was the auditorium tour in 2018. A lot of thought, work and money went into that show, but it was a logistical nightmare moving the audience.
Damn changing times
That’s a real shame, I looked forward to watching it every year. I don’t think the replacement events are as good.
I think it is at least better than the game award or all the events organised by that guy, SOrry lazy to look up his name.
One of those things that is understandable but will be missed. If all major publishers could agree to create live presentations like they used to do, I'd be up for an E3 revival in the future.
For now, so long E3!
Sad to see it go but they have been talking about the death of E3 since 2007. So i guess it’s time it finally died for real.
@playstation1995 My favorite E3 mike drop: $299. 😸
@JbumiSandra. Yes haha.that was legendary.1995 was a amazing year for PlayStation.word up son
I feel like I read this headline multiple times this year. How dead can one organization be?
@nessisonett Definitely true, although once, they opened the door to the public it became so much more difficult to try anything. Queues were already super long before, they just became completely unmanageable after...
Beyond the obvious better control on your comms and narrative outside of a tradeshow like E3, it's the cost that was one of the major factors in leaving for many publishers and manufacturers. We're talking about more than AAA game marketing budget which was spiraling out of control with everyone trying to outdo everyone...
but yeah... E3 will be sorely missed... that's for sure...
@mrbone one is an award show the other is a games expo? two completely different things.
It was only a matter of time so I'm not surprised at all.
@twitchtvpat Not really when game award spend more time on game and trailers. But thing is there are other game awards too, why give more attention to that?
Quite sad about this. I remember discovering it back in 2003 when I was at school! In later years around the PS4 launch I used to stay up late and watch it, knowing it was a massive event and it would be worth watching and reading about because there was always something that came out of it.
I thought Sony's conferences were often one of the best, not just games but the big "characters" out on stage chatting away and talking about all things Playstation. I still miss those days..theses days of Directs and State of Play are simply no match and often not worth watching.
Maybe it was a dinosaur, but it created so much hype for the industry. And the industry needs hype as it is heading to a weird place at the moment.
So sad. My biggest memory was demo-ing “ Rune” to John Romero in our caravan in the Gathering of Developers parking lot. I was shaking like a leaf as I was so nervous but he was a really cool guy. I’d only been in the States for a few months and the whole thing was just surreal.
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