Highlights
- E3 2024 will not be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has parted ways with ReedPop.
- The ESA has confirmed that E3 2025 will be a complete reinvention of the annual gaming event.
- The future of E3 is uncertain after canceling three of the last four events, but there are still fans who hope for its revival.
The Entertainment Software Association has revealed that E32024 will not be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The ESA had been working with PAX and EGX organizer ReedPop on E3 before canceling the 2023 version of the event in March. The event would've been the first in-person E3 since 2019 had it been seen through.
Before the COVID pandemic began in 2020, E3 had already been losing some of its most important partners and supporters. EA and Microsoft began holding their portions of the event in nearby but separate venues and other major figures like host Geoff Keighley and PlayStation started detaching from the annual event entirely. COVID dealt a major blow to E3, forcing the ESA to cancel its 2020 show, putting the fate of E3 into question. The years following saw the rise of Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest as a major competitor, as well as many major publishers embracing the cost-effective nature of digital showcases. Before its unfortunate cancelation, E3 2023 was looking to be the show's long-awaited return to an in-person format.
Now, after shifting focus to E3 2024, the ESA has announced that it has parted ways with ReedPop. Furthermore, the ESA confirmed that the long-time E3 venue the LA Convention Center won't be the site of E3 2024. Additionally, the ESA added that E3 2025 will be a "complete reinvention" of the once magical annual gaming event.
The exact details of what these statements from the ESA mean are still up in the air. It seems like it's treating E3 2024 as a less-important placeholder as it looks to pour everything into E3 2025 as the big re-imagining and revival. As for the venue, the ESA only ruled out the LA Convention Center for 2024, so it's still possible 2025's show could make a return to its traditional in-person home. Meanwhile, coming off a very impressive Summer Game Fest showcase this past June, Geoff Keighley has announced that the 2024 iteration of his ever-improving show will take place next Summer.
With ReedPop and the LA Convention Center now out of the picture, the future of E3 remains ever-uncertain. After canceling three of the last four E3s, one must wonder if the ESA has what it takes to make the once celebrated industry-wide event a mainstay in the video game zeitgeist once more. Summer Game Fest and the industry's newfound fondness of digital showcases certainly won't make it easy. However, there's no doubt that there are many fans who still hold E3 dear and would love to see its return. Time will tell if E3 2024 and 2025 will actually happen and whether they'll mark the revival of the once beloved event.
Source: IGN