E3 – one of the world’s biggest video gaming events – has been
cancelled.
The event - formally known as the Electronic Entertainment Expo –
was due to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, in June, the first
in-person edition of the show since 2019.
The last event in 2021 was digital only. Last year’s scheduled in-person
event was officially cancelled due to ‘ongoing health risks’ associated with
Covid-19, with the digital event also cancelled to allow organisers to focus on
a ‘revitalized physical and digital E3 experience next summer’.
But industry experts were already
warning that the show was losing relevance and now organisers
ReedPop and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) have announced the conference will not be going ahead
this year either, stating that ‘both parties will re-evaluate the future of E3’.
Reasons for the cancellation are varied, but a lack
of major exhibitors was chief amongst them. IGN, who broke the story, obtained
an internal memo, which stated that the 2023 version, ‘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’.
Ubisoft told trade media it would livestream its own
showcase, while Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony were reportedly set to miss it.
Piers Harding-Rolls, video game industry analyst at
Ampere Analysis, told BBC
News the cancellation reflected, the 'declining relevance of a huge
in-person trade show in the middle of June’.
He said the event had ‘struggled
to remain relevant and reinvent itself’ in line with industry changes,
including the growth of mobile gaming and the rise of more frequent
digital-only showcases livestreamed online.
The pandemic played havoc with gaming production
schedules and saw gaming companies focus more on making their own livestream
events to promote new games or devices.
The event
used to attract tens of thousands of visitors and reportedly generated $88 million
in revenue for Las Vegas.
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
