E3 2023 and Beyond Cancelled

[Moonface]

ReedPop, the organization behind notable events such as PAX, EGX, and New York Comic Con, will officially be taking over E3 going forward, as announced by the ESA early this morning.

Following the announcement, ReedPop stated it intends to "reshape what didn't work" and that E3 2023 will welcome back “publishers, developers, journalists, content creators, manufacturers, buyers, and licensors”, and also highlight digital showcases and feature “in-person consumer components”.

Source: VGC

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If ReedPop can't bring E3 back from the brink, then there is absolutely no saving the event. A while back we had a thread debating whether E3 was finished after the ESA announced the cancellation of E3 2022, and at the time I thought it was done and also saw no need for it to continue. Since then I admit my view has changed on that slightly, since public showcases aside E3 was very important for those within the industry when it comes to the show floor stuff, and even if the presentations stay independent of the event I think a unified event for the industry to use to get together will still be a void E3 can go back to filling.

Having attended a PAX and NYCC, I can say that ReedPop does know what it's doing when it comes to organizing a show floor experience, so I have a lot of faith in them being able to do what the ESA has struggled with for a while now.

[Mr EliteL]

Huh, wonder what made them decide to just go ahead and try to being E3 back. Like you said, perhaps to keep an event where multiple games and companies come together alive. If you've seen what ReedPop can do then I'll look forward to what they'll bring in '23 instead. Will keep expectations low just to avoid disappointment though, not perhaps in ReedPop themselves but the E3 event as a whole.

[Moonface]

The ESA had already announced plans to hold E3 next year back when NotE3 was on, but maybe they finally realized they're out of their depth on how to refresh the expo (they haven't exactly had a good track record with their pitches for how to refresh the experience) and sought out a company to partner with that knows what they're doing. It's no secret that when E3 went public it never went well and just soured the expo for everyone, regardless of being members of the public, press, or the industry.

[ShiraNoMai]

Excited to see what this will look like. There's definitely a part of my brain that's like "Oh no, the monopolization of cons is upon us," but, eh, what do I care in this specific situation, if it's actually going to benefit it?

[Dragon Lord]

Should just let E3 remain dead and buried like it should be. Let companies do their own events for big reveals. It's much more interesting that way, and then fans don't have to sit through a bunch of boring, worthless content like the Microsoft showcase kekw while waiting for the good shit to come on.

[Moonface]

Should just let E3 remain dead and buried like it should be. Let companies do their own events for big reveals. It's much more interesting that way, and then fans don't have to sit through a bunch of boring, worthless content like the Microsoft showcase kekw while waiting for the good shit to come on.

The problem with this is that E3 has a lot of use for behind closed doors industry stuff where multiple companies and publishers can come under one roof to have discussions and whatnot that are harder and/or less likely to occur when all of these companies have to reach out to each other from separate places. The publicly shown spectacle of E3 just tends to make the trade show aspect forgotten about by non-industry consumers, which is understandable but also partly explains why E3 managed to grow long before conferences were streamed online and members of the public were even allowed to attend the event at all.

On the note of public versus industry purposes, the first E3 under ReedPop will be separating the two groups into different halls, and we also have dates for the various aspects of that E3 confirmed too:

[ShiraNoMai]

This is probably the best case scenario of how to handle the event. Let the industry/press folk get their dues, and let the fans have their dues on a separate time. No need to conflict the two to somehow work together.

[Moonface]

Since this thread concerns the developments of E3 2023 in light of ReedPop taking it over, it doesn't bode well that allegedly Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony will not be attending the event: https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-ninten...ng-e3-2023

IGN has heard from multiple knowledgeable sources that Xbox, Sony, and Nintendo won't be part of E3 2023 or have a presence on the Los Angeles Convention Center showfloor.

Xbox [announced] last week that it would be returning to Los Angeles for its annual summer showcase while declining to confirm whether it would be part of the show itself.

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said the platform holder is timing its showcase with E3 at a moment "convenient for press and even consumers" at the event, meaning it's likely to roughly align with the event itself. Spencer also stressed Xbox's public support for E3 and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). However, IGN understands that Xbox won't have a booth on the showfloor.

E3 is just, to me, one of the seminal moments of gaming. I love the history of going down to LA, thousands of people there, getting to see great new things...getting to see people in the industry, the fan events that we've had. I definitely want that to continue.

Xbox is on the board of the ESA, and I think a successful and healthy ESA is critical to what we're trying to go do. So we place our showcase, like we always have done, at a time where hopefully it's convenient for press and even consumers that are going to the E3 event, and that's what we're trying to do now. We will continue to work with ESA in terms of their plans. As I said, we're on the board, and we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to help make the E3 successful.

Sony not being there isn't surprising since they've been out of E3 since 2019; Nintendo haven't held a conference at E3 ever since they switched to their Direct format for the event but did maintain booths at the event, and I'm a little surprised they don't plan to have any booths at E3 this year when they always have. I hope it's for taking a different approach and not because there isn't going to be much from Nintendo for the Switch by the time June rolls around, but Pikmin 4 is the only notable exclusive set for a release post-June 2023, but it also lacks any release window at all so that game might not even be ready to have a playable booth for; although, even if it did I don't blame Nintendo to not pay money to have one booth for one first-party title on the E3 show floor.

Microsoft bowing out (if it gets confirmed they are) surprises me most, simply because they're on the board of the ESA and they're planning a showcase that falls into the E3 window, but I don't think they normally hold it separate from the event. Seems odd if this will be the first year they do that when I feel like it goes against trying to help make the return of E3 a success.

On the note of E3 2023's success, I don't have much hope for it if none of the big three are going to be involved with it. Going by last years schedule, Capcom was the only other notable AAA company to host a conference and that wouldn't really be enough to make attending E3 2023 appealing to people outside of the novelty of attending an E3.

[Mr EliteL]

So quite possibly not much to look forward to E3 then. Not too surprising Microsoft will do a showcase separately, but as longs as it falls around the time then there's something notable early June I guess. If other companies don't bother either then welp, at least we'll know the event likely will be over this time.

[Moonface]

I'm curious what ReedPop will do for the event with the big players all being out of it. I doubt they'd cancel the event entirely but at the same time I can't see how this isn't just going to be a PAX clone at this rate.

[Dragon Lord]

Kind of glad they aren't going. Let E3 die like it should have long ago and just do your own showcases when you're ready to show stuff. Companies feeling like they have to rush announcements to make a huge splash at E3 is how we ended up with Kingdom Hearts III being announced 3-4 years earlier than it should have been.

[Moonface]

Kind of glad they aren't going. Let E3 die like it should have long ago and just do your own showcases when you're ready to show stuff. Companies feeling like they have to rush announcements to make a huge splash at E3 is how we ended up with Kingdom Hearts III being announced 3-4 years earlier than it should have been.

As well as a lack of E3 possibly avoiding this problem you mentioned, I'm curious if it would also benefit developers because they wouldn't necessarily need to spend time putting together vertical slices and instead could just show off the actual game as it is when enough progress has been made to just show it.

[Kyng]

Wow, if the Big Three are all out, then I don't think there's much hope for the future of E3. It's been losing relevance for years now - and I think this is just the final nail in the coffin.

[Moonface]

Wow, if the Big Three are all out, then I don't think there's much hope for the future of E3. It's been losing relevance for years now - and I think this is just the final nail in the coffin.

Yeah, especially since Microsoft not being part of it technically removes what used to be two separate companies that attended the event: Microsoft and Bethesda. If the Activision deal goes through, that also then takes away any Activision presence from the show too (not that they ever had their own conference but they were part of the show floor at least).

I also just saw that Summer Game Fest will be happening on June 8th, and this year will be the first it opens to the general public instead of being a livestreamed virtual event like it has been so far. All it takes is for that event to be more appealing to the public and the game companies compared to E3 and I can see SGF putting the final nail in the coffin like what people expected when it first started going alongside E3 a few years ago.

[Moonface]

E3 2023 is "Full Speed Ahead", Says ReedPop President
Earlier today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated that they would be attending E3 2023 and will have lots to show, "if E3 happens". The if in this statement however brought into question whether E3 was still definitely going ahead this year, especially after recent reports that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo would not be attending the event.

In the wake of this statement, Lance Fenstermen, President of ReedPop, has shared with The Verge that E3 2023 will be happening and that a list of confirmed exhibitors will be shared soon:

E3 is full speed ahead and we are pleased with the progress and engagement from the community. As we have confirmed exhibitors we are eager to share more as details get cemented and participants ready their own detailed plans.

In other parts of the ReedPop gaming portfolio we rarely release participants until close to the event but now will adjust our style to the E3 way as we can.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/16/23603...-guillemot