E3 2023 has been canceled due to a lack of interest and because developers and publishers would not be ready in time. Organizer Reedpop confirmed in an official statement, that the in-person event will not be going ahead for the second year running despite the effort already put into trying to get it off the ground.
E3 will continue in the future
Despite the cancelation of this year’s event, Reedpop has assured players, developers and publishers that they will continue to work with the ESA to create “future E3 events”. Reedpop told IGN the reasons for E3 2023 being canceled:
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. 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. 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 Marsden-Kish, Global VP of Gaming, ReedPop
The ESA had allegedly sent an email to its members earlier today stating the event “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.” After companies like Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Sega, and Tencent confirmed they would not be attending E3 2023, it became clear that this year’s event was incredibly unlikely to go ahead.
