Electronic Entertainment Expo's steady slide into oblivion continues. Although the trade fair is to take place again this year in Los Angeles, major players in the games industry want to stay away from E3 2023, it is now said.
The E3 is stumbling more than ever
After E3 2020 was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was only one online event in 2021 and E3 2022 was completely canceled again, there will be another face-to-face trade fair in Los Angeles in 2023. The organizer Entertainment Software Association still firmly believed in a success – but now there is already a first setback: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo do not want to take part in the fair, as reported by IGN, citing several anonymous sources. As a result, E3 2023 would be missing all three major console manufacturers and some of the most important publishers for the first time. Since PC games and hardware were usually not a core topic at the fair in the past, a gaping gap would remain.
Sony hasn't been there in recent years, while Microsoft held a parallel event right across the street in 2019. The fact that the Xbox manufacturer is not officially taking part in the trade fair this time either and is likely to be holding its own event again is considered a given, as Microsoft has already announced a major summer event in Los Angeles.
Take over exclusive or alternative events
Such competing events at the same time or even apart from the flood of news about the trade fair period, represent an increasingly attractive and more common alternative to the established trade fairs for manufacturers and publishers, as an exclusive presentation deserves undivided attention. And purely virtual channels are also playing an increasingly important role: In recent years, the E3 Summer Game Fest has been increasingly digging the water and is now sometimes regarded as an up-and-coming successor. The event will take place again this year, the opening live stream is scheduled for June 8, 2023. E3 2023 will take place a week later from June 13th to 16th, 2023. Finally, on August 23, Gamescom will follow in Cologne.