After nearly three decades of operation, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced that E3 is officially dead. This comes in the wake of two summers without a proper E3 and the rise of Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest to fill the hole that E3 has left behind.
The news was first confirmed by Gene Park at Washington Post, who interviewed Stanley Pierre-Louis. Pierre-Louis is the president and CEO of the ESA, and he had this to say about E3’s fall:
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 event’s end was later confirmed on the official E3 and ESA Twitter/X accounts:
— E3 (@E3) December 12, 2023
After more than two decades of serving as a central showcase for the video game industry, ESA has decided to end E3. ESA remains focused on advocating for ESA member companies and the industry workforce who fuel positive cultural and economic impact every day.…
— Entertainment Software Association (@theESA) December 12, 2023
E3 was a monumental event in the world of video game entertainment for a very long time. Without E3, we wouldn’t have Nintendo Directs, or Sony’s year of dreams, or even the infamous “World Premiere” title cards popularized by Xbox. The event laid the foundation that so many companies now rest their digital events on. It set the standard for announcements and for showcases for many, many years. It’s truly sad to see it go.
The burden of massive video game announcement events now falls primarily onto Geoff Keighley. Summer Game Fest has already been eating E3’s lunch in the last few years, so it’s likely we’ll continue to see that trend. Hopefully, the issues we saw at this year’s Game Awards don’t begin to permeate his June event as well.
Do you have any favorite E3 memories? Feel free to share them and reminisce down in the comments.
Source: Washington Post