The biggest gaming event of the year, Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3 2023 has been cancelled. Earlier, the event was set to return to an individual event for the first time since 2019 in June this year. But now, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the body that organizes the event every year, has confirmed that the gaming event has been canceled for this year. Also Read – Nintendo Showcases Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Gameplay, Announces Limited-Edition Switch OLED
“ReadPop and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) have announced that both the Digital Any Physical events for E3 2023 have been cancelled,” ESA said in a statement. Also Read – Ubisoft will not attend E3 2023, instead it will host its own show
news on #E32023 from the source. pic.twitter.com/BK7TUlb8mZ Also Read – Xbox Game Pass Friends and Family plan expanded to 6 more countries: All you need to know
— E3 (@E3) March 30, 2023
According to an email sent to employees and verified by IGN, E3 2023 “simply failed to garner the sustained interest needed to execute it in a way that showcases the size, power and impact of our industry.”
Following IGN’s report, ReadPop released a formal statement regarding the cancellation of the event.
Kyle Marsden-Kish, Global VP of Gaming at ReadPop, said, “This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put in to deliver this event, but we needed to do what was right for the industry and for E3. What’s right,” had to do. , was quoted as saying.
“We appreciate and understand that interested companies will not have a playable demo ready and that the resource challenge at E3 this summer is a hurdle they cannot overcome. For those who committed to E3 2023, we’re sorry we couldn’t put on the showcase you deserve and have come to expect from ReadPop’s event experiences,” Marsden-Kish said.
E3 2023 was set for June 13 to June 16.
Why was E3 2023 cancelled?
The announcement comes after several major gaming companies decided to pull out of the annual gaming expo. Back in January 2023, three major gaming players — Sony’s PlayStation, Microsoft’s Xbox, and Nintendo — decided to pull out of the event, instead hosting individual events. Nintendo recently hosted Nintendo Direct 2023, and soon after, Microsoft announced that it will be hosting the Xbox Games Showcase on June 11 this year.
More recently, Ubisoft announced a change of plans, which included the company pulling out of E3 2023 to host the Ubisoft Forward Live event on June 12th. The company had earlier confirmed its presence at the event. Shortly after Ubisoft’s announcement, Tencent and Sega also shared their plans to drop the program this year.
It’s worth noting that the gaming expo has been canceled this year, but it’s unclear whether future iterations of the event have been canceled as well.
