E3 2023 canceled after major studios pull out

E3’s comeback is not happening in 2023 due to a lack of participation

Marco Wutz | Mar 31, 2023

E3 2023 canceled after major studios pull out /

E3 2023 is canceled, the gaming convention’s comeback to Los Angeles after a four-year break is not happening anymore. While organizer ReedPop remained confident it could put on a great show regardless of Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony not participating, the subsequent pull-outs by Ubisoft, Sega, and Tencent seem to have broken the camel’s back.

E3 was originally scheduled to take place in June 2023, combining a Digital Week with several showcases and the usual physical portion of the event. However, a lack of participants for the showfloor to draw big crowds has thrown a wrench into these plans.

ReedPop and E3 owner ESA have released a statement regarding the event’s cancellation with Kyle Marsden-Kish, ReedPop's Global VP of Gaming, saying:

"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."

ESA and ReedPop noted that they would continue their partnership and work on “future E3 events” together, so this is not a complete admission of defeat for now – fans of the event have some hope left for a comeback over the coming years.

Published Mar 31, 2023

MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg