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E3 Has Officially Been Cancelled For Good, Confirms Entertainment Software Association

The Entertainment Software Association (ESR) has announced that E3 has officially been cancelled — this time for good.

Speaking in a statement today, Stanley Pierre-Louis, president of the ESA, commented:

After more than two decades of hosting an event that has served as a central showcase for the US and global video game industry. We know the entire industry, players and creators alike have a lot of passion for E3. We share that passion. 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.

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E3 was first held back in 1995 and was an annual event held in Los Angeles where gaming companies would announce their upcoming slate, and was also host to numerous hardware reveals and showcases. One of the highlights was the format holder’s press conferences, which would typically last over one hour and were packed with reveals and updates.

Some of the biggest Sony announcements from the event include the announcement of the PSOne price point to undercut the Sega Saturn, the PS2 tech demos, the notorious ‘giant enemy crab’ 2006 press event, as well as the first look at the PS4 hardware design.

However, thanks to COVID-19, many companies started jumping on board the digital event bandwagon, and as such E3 struggled to find a place. The event was set to return this summer for its first physical event in four years, but plans with ReedPop ultimately fell through and it was shelved in March. There was hope that the show would be completely reinvented for 2025, but sadly that is no longer the case.

In recent years there have been a number of major events to take E3’s place while it was on hiatus, including Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest, so it’s not as if we won’t be getting those big reveals; it just won’t be at E3.

The loss of E3 probably won’t make much difference to those who favoured digital events or weren’t old enough to really remember it, but for myself, having grown up reading about the show in 90s magazines, it’s the end of an era. Farewell E3, you will be missed!

[Source – E3 on Twitter]