E3’s decades-long history is full of ups and downs. The annual Los Angeles-based toy show has seen a decade of steady growth since its inception in the mid-90s. The mid-00s, on the other hand, was a completely different story as the event struggled, downsized and moved away from the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Opening up the industry-only event to the public breathed new life into the event over the next decade, however, by 2020, E3 — and the rest of the world — came to an abrupt halt. Since then, the show has understandably struggled.
The in-person event was canceled thanks to COVID, and a virtual version failed to materialize until that summer. The show’s organizer, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), actually ran an online event in 2021, only to cancel things entirely again the following year. After failing to garner enough interest, there was no E3 2023, nor will the event return in 2024.
Given its recent history, it came as no surprise this morning when ESA announced that E3 is now gone for good. Such decisions are never easy to make and large organizations/events take some time to finish. The team no doubt wanted to exhaust all possible options before officially throwing in the towel for good.
“After more than two decades of E3, each longer than the last,” the organization wrote in a brief post this morning, “it’s time to say goodbye. Thanks for the memories.”
“Each one greater than the last,” is a bit of a misnomer, given the above narrative of the series’ history, but the place it once held in the gaming world is much clearer. At its peak, E3 represented gaming at its best. It was exciting, innovative, full of life. Huge titles and next-gen consoles were unveiled at the event, the booths were world-class, and gamers proved they could throw one hell of a party.
Even before the pandemic, however, the show’s success was thin. Much of the buzz hinged on the big three (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo), which showed waning interest in the show as the consumer tech market shifted to single-company press conferences to avoid getting lost in all the noise. The rise of virtual events has also taken some of the shine off these kinds of shows.
I, for one, will miss the E3. It’s always been a weird and wonderful week in downtown Los Angeles. But the days of gaming companies renting out the one-time Staples Center for a night in June may be over for good.
