Sad day for tech everywhere: After 20 years, the popular Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is being shut down

Remember E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, where some of the most important video games were announced (including Elder Ring, Starfield, Halo Infinite, or Age of Empires 4)? Well, you can say goodbye to this popular tech conference, as ESA, the entity behind it, just announced that E3 is being shut down permanently.

After more than two decades of serving as a central showcase for the video game industry, ESA has decided to end E3. ESA remains focused on advocating for ESA member companies and the industry workforce who fuel positive cultural and economic impact every day.

ESA

E3 has been struggling for a while: the last physical E3 was held back in 2019, before the pandemic. In 2021, there was an all-virtual E3 conference, while in 2020, and 2022 the conference was canceled altogether. There were plans for a revival of the physical version of the show back at the LA Convention Center, where E3 was usually held, but they never came to fruition.

The Washington Post has interviewed ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louisk, who stated that the shutting down was due to several important reasons, including disagreements between investors.

E3 was famously known for its gaming expos and presentations, and over the years, this conference was the place where many studios announced their games, and many of them went on to become important points in the gaming industry.

The gaming part of the conference was one of the reasons E3 was wildly successful back in the day: many gamers would attend the event solely for these announcements.

Today, E3 is no more, and the team behind the event released a message on X, thanking everyone for the memories made in the last 2 decades.

After more than two decades of E3, each one bigger than the last, the time has come to say goodbye. Thanks for the memories.

E3

What do you think about this? Will you miss it?