ESA denies E3 2024 and 2025 have been canceled, despite LA tourism board’s claims

By Tomas Franzese Updated June 22, 2023

There are conflicting reports over whether or not E3 2024 and E3 2025 will take place. A new document from the Los Angeles City Tourism Commission claims that both E3 2024 and E3 2025 have been canceled, but a spokesperson for the Entertainment Software Association claims no final decision has been made yet.

For over 20 years, the ESA held an event called E3 each June, where companies from around the video game industry would come together and show off their upcoming games. It got canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the ESA took 2022 off after a rough digital-only show in 2021. The expo was set to return in 2023, but was canceled in March after Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and other game companies pulled out of the event. E3’s future was put into question after that, and now it looks like it might not be coming back for the foreseeable future.

This didn’t come as an official announcement from the ESA; it was a footnote in the June 21 meeting notes from the City Tourism Commission in Los Angeles, the city in which E3 was typically held. On a page outlining year-to-date citywide convention sales for this fiscal year, a footnote at the bottom of the page states that its calculation for this “includes E3 cancellations for 2024 & 2025.”

The document claiming E3 2024 and E3 2025 have been canceled. — Los Angeles City Tourism Commission

Despite LA’s claim, the ESA isn’t willing to say E3 2024 is officially canceled just yet. While the ESA did not comment on the future of E3 after canceling the 2023 expo, it provided a statement to Axios after this news latest broke. “ESA is currently in conversation with ESA members and other stakeholders about E3 2024 (and beyond), and no final decisions about the events have been made at this time,” a spokesperson says. It’s not the resounding confirmation of a return that fans of E3 might have hoped for, but it’s good to hear that E3 2024 could still potentially happen.

While it’s unknown if E3 will return over the next two years, the industry has more than made up for its absence. Video game developers and publishers now hold lots of digital game showcases, and those who are fans of in-person events can look forward to the return of Summer Game Fest and its associated Play Days event next June.

Topics

E3
Tech News

Gaming Staff Writer

Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

Summer Game Fest returns just before E3 2023 next June

The official artwork confirming Summer Game Fest's return on June 8, 2023.

Geoff Keighley has confirmed when Summer Game Fest will return in June 2023. It will begin with a live kickoff show on June 8, 2023, placing Keighley's game announcement alternative less than a week before E3's grand (intended) 2023 return.
Unlike past years, Summer Game Fest Live Kickoff 2023 will feature a live audience, like Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards. It will take place in the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park, with tickets going on sale in early 2023. It will still be livestreamed across platforms like YouTube and Twitch, though. It's currently unknown who's participating, how long Summer Game Fest will run afterward, or if it will feature a Summer Game Fest Play Days-like element for fans. Still, Keighley says all of that info will be revealed ahead of the event next year, teasing what people can expect.
"In keeping with tradition, we'll have tons of exciting announcements from the developers that are pushing the games industry forward, and will once again highlight other publisher digital events, demos, and more surprises to be announced in the coming months," Keighley says in a press release.
That June 8 start date, and the other Summer Game Fest events likely to follow, put Keighley's show just ahead of E3 2023. The ESA and ReedPop plan to bring E3 back between June 13 and June 16, 2023. With five days of lead time on E3, Summer Game Fest can coexist with the long-running gaming conference and encompass the plethora of publisher showcases that tend to precede E3.
Geoff Keighley made it clear that he wants Summer Game Fest and E3 to coexist for a while. "We've had extensive conversations with ReedPop about E3," he said in an interview with Epic Games Store. "I think it'll kind of fit together and flow kind of from what we're doing into what they're doing and stuff. E3, to me, is this kind of master brand that represents gaming news in June."
With the start date of Summer Game Fest confirmed, the coexistence of these two summer gaming events is a reality. Summer Game Fest returns on June 8, 2023.

Gaming

E3 2023 returns in June with separate business and consumer days

E3 2023 will return as an in-person event from June 13 to June 16, 2023, as announced by ReedPop today.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) already revealed that E3 will return in 2023, but now we know exactly when the event will take place, along with several other key details. E3 will once again take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center after a four-year hiatus, but will incorporate separate days for industry professionals and general consumers.

Gaming

E3 returns to LA in 2023 thanks to the company behind PAX

After being canceled both physically and digitally in 2022, E3 seemed all but finished. Several months after this year's cancellation was announced, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) stated that the event is far from dead, with plans to return with a physical show in the works for 2023. Now, we have confirmation on just how it plans to get back on its feet after the ESA announced a partnership with ReedPop, the company behind the PAX conventions.

E3 will return in 2023, according to its parent company | Interview