E3 2023 has been cancelled, with a good chance that the trade show might die altogether. While there is no word about the show’s status next year, this year’s cancellation is hardly a surprise, with all the big publishers pulling out to host their digital conferences.
I’m disappointed and worried about the future of E3. For the better part of a decade, it has been my dream to attend the trade show in some capacity. This was back when the general public wasn’t allowed to attend, and you had to be an active member of the gaming industry to gain entrance. There were many times when I considered starting a gaming website just to be eligible to attend E3.
The format later changed to let the general public in, but by that point, the trade show had already become too crowded in terms of visibility for the games being showcased. EA was among the first to pull out and host its own conference, later followed by Sony. Then the pandemic struck, and E3 was called off altogether, with the publishers hosting their own digital-only conferences to make their yearly announcements.
Sadly, this format seems to have worked out better for the publishers, and they chose to repeat it this year as well, sounding the death knell for E3.
I’m hopeful that even if E3 doesn’t come back next year, or the one after that, there might be a point when the industry bigwigs decide to bring it back, if only for nostalgia.
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