E3 Is Permanently Canceled

It's official: E3 is dead. The long-running Electronic Entertainment Expo has faced numerous challenges over the last several years, and after a failed attempt to revive it once again this year, its parent company has confirmed that it is ending the gaming showcase.

"After more than two decades of hosting an event that has served as a central showcase for the U.S. and global video game industry, the Entertainment Software Association has decided to bring E3 to a close," ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis said to The Washington Post. "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."

E3's downward slide began several years ago, as major partners like Sony, EA, and Nintendo pulled out of the annual event and instead opted to hold their own individual shows during Not-E3 season. New challengers arose, like Geoff Keighley's Summer Games Fest, and the COVID-19 epidemic proved to be the final nail in the coffin for E3. The ESA held an all-digital E3 in 2021 and ended up losing more money than it earned, while the 2022 and 2023 shows were canceled entirely.

At one point, convention organizer ReedPop was tasked with resurrecting E3, but these plans also fell through. E3 2023 was canceled at the last minute following a lack of interest from publishers and developers, leading to ReedPop and the ESA parting ways. While a 2024 E3 looked unlikely, it was rumored that a "complete reinvention" of the show would be held in 2025.