E3 2023 is officially cancelled

E3 2023 is officially canceled. After the ESA announced last year they'd be partnering with "ReedPop", the company who organizes Pax, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. This year was supposed to be the first in-person post-COVID-19 event, with 2021 being the only one to happen as it was an online-only event. E3 2023 was set to return to the Los Angeles Convention Ceneter June 13-16. E3 has long been a staple of the gaming industry, being one of the biggest trade shows and the place to be to showcase your upcoming titles, hardware, and products. Up until 2017 E3 was an industry only event only being opened to the public during its last years to try and bring a new wave of excitement around the event.

From a distance, we saw this coming slowly as major companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all announced they were stepping away from the show in favor of their own plans. COVID really put the spotlight on E3 not really having a purpose in this day and age where digital events are more and more common. Without a physical showcase and stage for companies to present on, they really had to find their own way or hold press conferences for the media and fans at the same time. Everyone quickly turned to varying styles of "Nintendo Directs." Xbox and Playstation started their own "Games Showcase" and "State of Play" events, respectively, that they could put on at their own will, on their own time, and with their own money, all while not having to worry about forking over thousands of dollars to the ESA. Now that we're out of lockdown, why go back to old ways when the bandage fix we've had for the past few years has worked just as well, if not better? Sure, I'm going to miss the live stadium crowd cheering and reacting to reveals and titles being shown, but if we can have a more solid, locked-down showcase in exchange, I'm OK with that. 

With the show stepping back, it doesn't mean that we won't have a summer full of press conferences and events. We're still a few months out but have a short lineup of events from other companies, including:
Microsoft Gameshowcase/Starfield Direct: June 11
Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest: June 8
Ubisoft Forward; June 12
Playstation and Nintendo will almost certainly have events scheduled in the same time frame.