UPDATE 10:10PM UK: In a joint statement issued to the press, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and E3 2023 organiser Reedpop have confirmed that this year’s event has been cancelled.
“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,” said Kyle Marsden-Kish, Global VP of Gaming at Reedpop.
“We appreciate and understand that interested companies wouldn’t have playable demos ready and that resourcing challenges made being at E3 this summer an obstacle they couldn’t overcome,” Marsden-Kish continued.
“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.”
ORIGINAL STORY 9:50PM UK: E3 2023 has reportedly been scrapped, following a long period of uncertainty surrounding which developers and publishers would attend.
The news comes via a report from IGN, in which its sources say that an email has been sent to members informing them of the cancellation. The email stated that E3 “remains a beloved event and brand”, but the 2023 edition “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry.”
E3 2023 was announced last year, following the cancellation of both the in-person and digital events for E3 2022. The ESA claimed at the time that the cancellations would allow them to focus on E3 2023 and provide a “revitalized physical and digital E3 experience.”
This year’s iteration was set to herald E3’s grand return to the LA Convention Center as an in-person event, the first since 2019. However, the event was thrown into question after it was confirmed that Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony would not be attending.
Things appeared to be getting back on track when Ubisoft confirmed that it would be in attendance, making them the first major publisher to do so. However, Ubisoft later announced that it would no longer be attending E3, with the publisher deciding to host its own Ubisoft Forward Live event on June 12th.
Ubisoft’s E3 U-turn was followed by announcements from Sega and Tencent, who both issued statements confirming that they would also not be attending.
E3 2023 was set to take place from the 13th-16th June, with the first two days (June 13th-14th) to be reserved for business, before opening up to consumers starting June 15th. The event would also be the first E3 organised by Reedpop, a media and events company who run the likes of PAX, Star Wars Celebration, EGX and New York Comic Con.