Bad news for fans of trade events with an identity crisis: it looks increasingly like E3 will not happen in 2024 either. The ESA have informed the Los Angeles Convention Center, the event’s traditional home, that it will not be hosting a show there next year, and events company ReedPop are no longer working with the ESA on future E3 events.
ReedPop, who are also the parent company of Rock Paper Shotgun, had been tapped by the ESA to deliver E3’s return in a multi-year deal. The 2023 version was cancelled back in March after failing to “garner the sustained interest necessary”.
Now the ESA and ReedPop have announced that they won’t be working together on future events. The ESA have not cancelled plans for an E3 in 2024, but if it does happen it won’t be at the LA Convention Center.
GamesIndustry.biz also report that the ESA is working on a “complete reinvention” of E3 for 2025.
“We appreciate ReedPop’s partnership over the past 14 months and support their ongoing efforts to bring industry and fans together through their various events,” said ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis in a statement.
“We have enjoyed our time working with the ESA and appreciate their commitment to the games industry as a whole,” says ReedPop’s Kyle Marsden-Kish. “While we will not be involved with the future of E3 we look forward to seeing its evolution and where the ESA takes it.”
While E3 has had a muddled modern history, I remain sad that it hasn’t found its way back. I have fond memories of following the event and the many announcements that happened there as a teenager in the ’90s, and similarly fond memories of attending and reporting on the event as a journalist over the past twenty years. Digital events are no replacement for being able to play the games and talk to their makers.
