Skip to main content

E3 is officially dead, as the ESA retires the historic gaming expo

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the organizer of the E3 video game industry expo, confirmed that E3 is dead and that it has no plans to bring the show back.

“After more than two decades of serving as a central showcase for the video game industry, ESA has decided to end E3,” The ESA explained on X. “ESA remains focused on advocating for ESA member companies and the industry workforce who fuel positive cultural and economic impact every day.”

E3 logo
The ESA

E3, which stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo, was a massive in-person event most often held in Los Angeles from 1995 until 2019. There, game developers and publishers would network and announce the games they worked on to the public. For its final three years, E3 was open to the public. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, E3 2020 got canceled, and the show never recovered. In 2021, it returned as a lackluster digital event, while 2022 and 2023 iterations of the show were canceled after being announced. Earlier this year, The ESA and ReedPop ended their partnership to work on E3, but the ESA was coy about the show’s future. Now, it’s clear that E3 won’t be coming back.

ESA President and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis revealed more when speaking to The Washington Post. “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,” Pierre-Louis explained.

Ultimately, the ESA’s comments show that the nonprofit believes E3 is less of a necessity now that companies can hold physical and digital events of their own to announce new games. After two failed attempts to bring it back in person, the organization abandoned the concept entirely. Although 2024 won’t have an E3, Geoff Keighley has already confirmed that Summer Game Fest, his E3 alternative that first emerged during the pandemic, will return next year.

Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Summer Game Fest returns just before E3 2023 next June
The official artwork confirming Summer Game Fest's return on June 8, 2023.

Geoff Keighley has confirmed when Summer Game Fest will return in June 2023. It will begin with a live kickoff show on June 8, 2023, placing Keighley's game announcement alternative less than a week before E3's grand (intended) 2023 return.
Unlike past years, Summer Game Fest Live Kickoff 2023 will feature a live audience, like Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards. It will take place in the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park, with tickets going on sale in early 2023. It will still be livestreamed across platforms like YouTube and Twitch, though. It's currently unknown who's participating, how long Summer Game Fest will run afterward, or if it will feature a Summer Game Fest Play Days-like element for fans. Still, Keighley says all of that info will be revealed ahead of the event next year, teasing what people can expect. 
"In keeping with tradition, we'll have tons of exciting announcements from the developers that are pushing the games industry forward, and will once again highlight other publisher digital events, demos, and more surprises to be announced in the coming months," Keighley says in a press release. 
That June 8 start date, and the other Summer Game Fest events likely to follow, put Keighley's show just ahead of E3 2023. The ESA and ReedPop plan to bring E3 back between June 13 and June 16, 2023. With five days of lead time on E3, Summer Game Fest can coexist with the long-running gaming conference and encompass the plethora of publisher showcases that tend to precede E3.
Geoff Keighley made it clear that he wants Summer Game Fest and E3 to coexist for a while. "We've had extensive conversations with ReedPop about E3," he said in an interview with Epic Games Store. "I think it'll kind of fit together and flow kind of from what we're doing into what they're doing and stuff. E3, to me, is this kind of master brand that represents gaming news in June."
With the start date of Summer Game Fest confirmed, the coexistence of these two summer gaming events is a reality. Summer Game Fest returns on June 8, 2023.

Read more
E3 2023 returns in June with separate business and consumer days
The logo for E3 2023.

E3 2023 will return as an in-person event from June 13 to June 16, 2023, as announced by ReedPop today.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) already revealed that E3 will return in 2023, but now we know exactly when the event will take place, along with several other key details. E3 will once again take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center after a four-year hiatus, but will incorporate separate days for industry professionals and general consumers.

Read more
E3 returns to LA in 2023 thanks to the company behind PAX
Crowd of E3 attendees in front of the E3 logo and various game posters.

After being canceled both physically and digitally in 2022, E3 seemed all but finished. Several months after this year's cancellation was announced, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) stated that the event is far from dead, with plans to return with a physical show in the works for 2023. Now, we have confirmation on just how it plans to get back on its feet after the ESA announced a partnership with ReedPop, the company behind the PAX conventions.

E3 will return in 2023, according to its parent company | Interview

Read more