(Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty)
Rest in peace E3. The video game trade show is officially no more.
The group behind E3, the Entertainment Software Association, announced the news on Tuesday, after it failed to revive the event earlier this year. “After more than two decades of serving as a central showcase for the US and global video game industry, ESA has decided to end E3,” ESA CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis said in a statement.
Going forward, Pierre-Louis says the “ESA’s focus and priority remain advocating for ESA member companies and the industry workforce who fuel positive cultural and economic impact every day.”
The decision isn’t surprising. The last E3 was held in 2019. A year later, the annual trade show was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, efforts to bring back the show as a physical event have sputtered out. In March, it looked like E3 might truly be dead after the ESA canceled the event for 2023, citing lack of “sustained interest.” This came after numerous high-profile video game companies, including Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, decided to bail on the trade show.
Indeed, the whole video game market has drastically changed since 1995 when the first E3 was held as a private industry event. All the major game companies are now focusing on their own events, such as Nintendo Direct and Sony State of Play, to showcase their products, giving less reason for E3 to exist.
Still, for at least two decades, E3 was the premier video game show for in-person interactions and live speeches, and many video game fans are mourning its loss. The trade show, which attracted tens of thousands of attendees each year, also gave us numerous epic moments in gaming history, including the debut of the Sega Saturn and Sony dissing the Xbox.
“We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners,” Pierre-Louis told The Washington Post.