Months after plans for a revamped E3 fell through and the show was canceled, The Entertainment Software Association has ended its deal with event planning company ReedPop. The announcement also confirmed that there will be no E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2024, but hasn’t said E3 is completely canceled.
The ESA and ReedPop made a splash when they announced their partnership for a revamped E3, which was set to return the show to an in-person event in 2023 with additional ways for consumer involvement. While the event was announced, there was slow uptake from the major gaming companies, and eventually, with all of the AAA companies not exhibiting, and instead planning their own events, along with others like Summer Game Fest, it fell apart.
That made a lot of people begin to question whether there was a future for E3 after all, and this announcement will not quell that discussion. ReedPop said, of the cancellation back in March, the planned E3 “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”. Now ReedPop is out and even more overhauls look to be in the works.
A report by GamesIndustry.biz on the breakdown of the ESA-ReedPop deal says that “the trade body is also working on a complete reinvention of the E3 show for 2025”
ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis said, in a statement, “While the reach of E3 remains unmatched in our industry, we are continuing to explore how we can evolve it to best serve the video game industry and are evaluating every aspect of the event, from format to location. We are committed to our role as a convenor for the industry and look forward to sharing news about E3 in the coming months”.
When–or if–E3 ever returns, it may not be in the Los Angeles Convention Center, and it may look very different. These new announcements won’t do much to stop anyone from hammering the nails into the show’s coffin anytime soon.
