E3 is Dead, Long Live E3!

Well, it is official, I am the picture of depression. Announced yesterday (almost out of nowhere) the official E3 Twitter page and The Washington Post (because it has nothing better to do) said that 2019 was it for E3. This was the first post on social media for the event since March of this year when it was announced that digital and in-person events were canceled. Though it has been shared by places by IGN, showing graphics that the event ran from 1995 through to 2023. Officially, the last event proper was 2019.

Parsing the god-awful editing standards currently at the Post, Entertainment Software Association president and CEO, Stanley Pierre-Louis, said: “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 ESA has decided to bring E3 to a close.“

pic.twitter.com/y6dtVkBvNI

— E3 (@E3) December 12, 2023

Pierre-Louis goes on to say, “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.” This decision comes as a result of pandemic disruptions and difficulties in restructuring on the scale the event was once at. The decision was inevitable.

Sony hasn’t done an in-person show since it left E3 in 2018. Nintendo has done the Treehouse/Direct thing since before I watched it proper in 2015 and beyond. Xbox hasn’t returned to a live crowd since 2019 because they can control the whole thing better that way, Bethesda became part of Microsoft, and so too has Activision-Blizzard|King. The big three enjoy controlling their showcases from the comfort of post-production, while Geoff had to pay for extra security to stop the Bill Clinton kid from getting on stage again. Anyone who didn’t expect this to be the outcome was an idiot. However, I at least expected there to be one more in-person, if smaller.

Pierre-Louis himself goes on to say, “There were fans who were invited to attend in the later years, but it really was about a marketing and business model for the industry and being able to provide the world with information about new products.” Highlighting the purpose of renting out a whole convention center years before fans were invited and after being a side attraction for retailers at CES. He goes on to say, “Companies now have access to consumers and to business relations through a variety of means, including their own individual showcases.”

Thus ends the place where we’d ultimately see the reveal of consoles like the PS3, the Wii, the 360, the Kinect’s awkward nonsense, and beyond. Most importantly, that awful design that we first saw when the PS3 was unveiled, and the controller looked like something you’d see on special websites for a fee. It is a sad day to see it go. I’m sure Mr Caffeine can finally have a resting heartbeat somewhere around normal.