Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 has officially been confirmed to be over after over two decades of the show.
E3 Officially Over After 28 Years
The Entertainment Software Association has officially announced the end of the E3 expo as they confirmed not going forward with 2024 or future shows. The event has been run over the course of 28 years as an annual event beginning in 1995, but it’s finally come to an end. In a statement made on X (Twitter) the ESA confirmed they have decided to “end E3”.
After more than two decades of serving as a central showcase for the video game industry, ESA has decided to end E3. ESA remains focused on advocating for ESA member companies and the industry workforce who fuel positive cultural and economic impact every day.…
— Entertainment Software Association (@theESA) December 12, 2023
End of an E3 Era
It’s not a complete surprise as E3 did not take place this year or last year. The growth of streaming live events has also been a factor, with developers and publishers no longer needing to completely rely on tradeshows to make major announcements. E3 had poor attendance figures for its last in-person event in 2019, with numbers decreasing by 3000 between 2018 and 2019. Having roughly 66,000 attending compared to other trade shows that were in the hundreds of thousands.
Gamescoms 2019 comparatively had 373k which is a far cry from E3’s numbers. E3 is also was predominantly an industry event, with a focus on professionals rather than the general public which also contributed to the lower number of attendees.
Biggest gaming exhibitions / trade shows of by number of entries:
Gamescom 2019: 373k
ChinaJoy 2019: 365k
Brazil Games Show 2018: 325k
Taipei Game Show 2019: 320k
Paris Games Week 2018: 316k
Tokyo Game Show 2019: 262k
G-Star Korea 2018: 235k
…..
E3 2019: 66k— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) September 16, 2019
E3 began as a trade show back in 1995, being a way for retailers to come across what’s new for the holiday season. A premiere event would attract press from all over the globe to cover the happenings. This became larger and attracted more attention. Over the years, the way people purchase games and gaming consoles changed. Many retailers went online, and games started shipping outside of the holiday season. Having one show that only existed once a year didn’t quite match fit the industry, thus further gaming show events began to spring up. The major ones being Gamescom, Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards. Of course, there are others across the world such as Tokyo Game Show, ChinaJoy, G-Star in Korea, Paris Games week and more.
Want to take a look at what the first ever E3 looked like in 1995? An avid photographer and games retailer worker Anthony Parisi filmed over 3 hours of footage documenting it. The video uploaded in 2017, showing stark contrast to what E3 looks like in recent years. A much more casual and flashy event compared to the business-orientated first E3. You get to see a glimpse of Playstation 1 during this retro throwback. It now marks a historic time in gaming history, as the long-running event comes to a close.
Things Are Changing
Livestreaming platforms such as Youtube and Twitch aren’t the only factors. Other game shows have since risen such as Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest, making it more obsolete and essentially pushing it out. Publishers have also created their own digital showcases to promote upcoming games such as Nintendo and Microsoft. The absence of major publishers such as Sony has contributed to E3’s overall popularity decline and irrelevancy.
The ESA were not unaware of these trends, as they had announced in 2019 that they aimed to create a revamped version of E3 in 2020. Ideas such as switching up floor plans and having an industry-only day were teased. This was in hopes of boosting the number of attendees and eyes on the event. This of course didn’t happen, with the emerging pandemic shutting down in-person events. This ultimately led to the downfall of the event altogether.
Some of Best E3 Moments
Although it seemed inevitable looking back on this, the expo has given a number of historic moments in gaming. Reveals such as the announcement of the Playstation 4 as the rival to the Xbox One. Keanu “you’re breathtaking” Reeves revealing he was in Cyberpunk 2077 which was a surprise and met with a wholesome response from the audience. The Elder Scrolls 6 finally confirmed to exist, although further evidence has been rather slim since its official teaser but hopefully with Starfield now launched, Bethesda will show us more.
The Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a huge reveal for FF fans, transforming Cloud and cast’s low polygon look into full 3D glory. Fallout 4‘s unveiling was a return to the highly acclaimed series, with plenty of Fallout humour. These were just some of its key highlights. It still seems sad that something this long-running finally coming to an end. What were your favourite E3 moments? Let us know in the comments below.
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