After a massive setback to E3 2023 last month when some major video game companies announced they would skip the event, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has finally announced the event’s cancellation, citing lack of interest. E3 had already been struggling in the past couple of years with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling in-person events.

Meanwhile, the ESA had formally announced the cancellation of E3 2022 in March of last year and stated that it was done so owing to persistent health hazards related to COVID-19. At the time, the ESA had declared that E3 will return in 2023 as a “revitalized showcase” event, fusing business gatherings and fan interaction.

As of now, the ESA has scrapped all of its plans for E3 2023. Both the live and online E3 events will not take place. E3, in an official tweet, stated, “ReedPop and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) have announced that both the digital and physical events for E3 2023 are cancelled.”

ReedPop’s global VP of gaming, Kyle Marsden-Kish, said, “This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3”.

He also said that the attending partners were not able to have a proper demo ready by the time of the event. “For those who did commit to E3 2023, we’re sorry we can’t put on the showcase you deserve and that you’ve come to expect from ReedPop’s event experiences,” Kyle further added.

In February, three of the biggest gaming companies – Xbox, Nintendo and Sony – announced that they will not be participating in the E3 this year. All of these companies have been organising their own showcase with Xbox doing a standalone one, Sony on their “State of Play” and Nintendo with “Direct”.

With developers doing their own showcase for games and demos, it is clear that E3 is being left behind in this fast-changing gaming industry.

Geoff Keighley, a popular video game journalist and television presenter also talked about how much E3 meant to him and said “E3 wasn’t evolving as it needed to compete in a global, digital world”. It might be the case here.

As of now, the ESA and ReedPop have confirmed they will still work together in future to bring back E3 events, although there might be some much-needed changes and innovations.