It looks like E3 won’t be happening this year as the trade show announced that it was being canceled for this summer (both the physical event and the digital alternative). An outcome that may spark flashbacks from 2020 when COVID-19 caused most of the world to come to a complete halt.
Thankfully, this doesn’t have anything to do with the virus or any other virus for that matter. Instead, this year’s cancelation is brought on by a general lack of interest from companies that normally would be attending. Major names like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony had already backed out of this years event, along with others. Causing the organizers to make the unfortunate decision.
News on #E32023 from the source. pic.twitter.com/BK7TUlb8mZ
— E3 (@E3) March 30, 2023
This was somewhat foreseen as many tech companies have been pulling back the reigns on their budgets to counter the latest market conditions, banking mishaps, continued supply chain issues, and other world events. Leading to mass layoffs and smaller spending when it comes to things like this.
The cancelation marks four years now that the show hasn’t taken place in person. It would have brought many thousands of people to Los Angeles this June and would have been the first return of the show since before the pandemic (since the summer of 2019).
Next year may hold a different tone though as those begin the organization of the event are still interested in future events and so are many other companies that would normally attend. This year just wasn’t convenient for any of them.
In the meantime, you can still expect to see various announcements throughout the year from companies via seperate internal events. Most of which are being streamed online.
