E3, Once Gaming's Biggest Stage, Gets Permanent Cancellation: Here's Why

E3, once the largest annual show for the video game industry, where developers showcased their latest games to the public, has been permanently canceled. In the past few years, multiple editions of E3 were canceled, first due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then because of a lack of commitment from developers and major publishers, such as Sony, which chose to hold its own events, such as the PlayStation Showcase, instead.

Now, in a statement to the Washington Post, Stanley Pierre-Louis, CEO of Entertainment Software Association, the organization responsible for E3, said, “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.”

Moreover, E3’s official account on X (formerly known as Twitter) also bid goodbye to fans.

The primary reason for this closure is being attributed to the fact that E3 is no longer on the radar of major publishers like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. Most publishers now have major online showcases that gamers can watch directly. Plus, shows like E3 can tend to be costly for publishers to attend, especially with huge attendance, booths to manage, and having to fly people like journalists to attend the same to get the word out.

Also, it must be noted that the last in-person E3 that happened was in 2019. And since then, only one edition of the E3 took place, that too, online. All versions since then had to be canceled. But now, it is clear that the show is not coming back, as it has been permanently suspended.