The Electronic Entertainment Expo, which was once the gaming industry\u2019s biggest convention<\/a> and media platform, is officially dead.
\u201cAfter more than two decades of hosting an event that has served as a central showcase for the U.S. and global video game industry,\u201d the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has decided to bring E3 to a close, said Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the nonprofit trade association that represents the games industry\u2019s interests in the United States.
A mix of new competitors, partner withdrawals, changing audience habits and pandemic-era disruptions led to E3\u2019s collapse, ending years of attempts to resuscitate the event, which began in 1995.
\u201cWe know the entire industry, players and creators alike have a lot of passion for E3. We share that passion,\u201d Pierre-Louis said. \u201cWe know it\u2019s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it\u2019s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners.\u201d
The origin and evolution of E3<\/a><\/span>
Those new opportunities include <\/b>online video news conferences that feed information directly to audiences \u2014 without the costs associated with attending a trade show, including booth fees, travel expenses and strict deadlines for presentations. In 2011, Nintendo paved the way by creating the \u201cDirect\u201d format, a video news conference announcing new games and products.
In 2018, Sony PlayStation\u2019s decision to leave the event<\/a> started a domino effect of other vendors and companies pulling their attendance. Just over a year later, former E3 collaborator and journalist Geoff Keighley announced that he quit helping the ESA with the show<\/a>, and since then has successfully engineered his own, separate events for showcases such as Summer Game Fest. He has also built up the showcase format in the annual Game Awards, including the one that took place Thursday<\/a>.
Perspective: The winners and losers of the Game Awards 2023<\/a><\/span>
Recent E3 shows, including the final in-person event, in 2019, allowed attendance by the general public as an effort to increase buzz. The pandemic further exacerbated E3\u2019s woes<\/a>, as quarantines forced several game publishers to adopt the online news conference format, to varying degrees of success.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Pierre-Louis seemed well aware of the circumstances that hurt attendance.
\u201cThere 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,\u201d he said. \u201cCompanies now have access to consumers and to business relations through a variety of means, including their own individual showcases.\u201d
Before E3, video games were showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but the industry <\/b>was pushed to the sidelines. The ESA created E3 as a trade show for retailers to meet with game publishers and creators.
\u201cAt that time, as an industry, we understood the power games have,\u201d Pierre-Louis said, \u201cbut a lot of others didn\u2019t appreciate the important role that our industry plays in the innovation sector, in creating serious expressions of art and contributions to economic growth.\u201d
It grew to a massive multimedia headline-creating event. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft showcased the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, respectively, during an electrifying 2005 show.
Sometimes the show introduced the public to gaming\u2019s biggest personalities, making household names of developers and company executives. In 2000, game creator Hideo Kojima<\/a> debuted a jaw-dropping presentation for \u201cMetal Gear Solid 2\u201d that paralleled blockbuster filmmaking. His talent for showmanship contributed to his mythology as an enigmatic artist.
In 2004, a new Nintendo of America executive named Reggie Fils-Aim\u00e9 stormed the show\u2019s stage and brought charisma and fire to historically business-formal presentations.
The effort to replace E3 is ongoing. The Game Awards ceremony has captured much of E3\u2019s cultural power, but it has been criticized for its focus on ads<\/a> and marketing, which hampers recognition of the industry\u2019s work.
Pierre-Louis said E3\u2019s closure means the business of video games \u201chas blossomed in different ways.\u201d
\u201cAny one of these major companies can create an individual showcase \u2026 [and] <\/b>also partner with other industry events to showcase the breadth of games,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s exciting for our industry, and it means it\u2019s an opportunity for them to explore how to engage new audiences in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n