The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and ReedPop are no longer working together on the next E3. The companies have announced they’ve parted ways, and PAX organizer ReedPop will not be working on any future E3 events.
Alongside this news (via GamesIndustry.biz), the ESA informed the Los Angeles Convention Center that it will not host a show there in 2024. The LACC was the usual home for E3, but recent speculation pointed towards E3 leaving the venue behind.
ReedPop, which also hosts PAX and several other conventions, was brought on in 2022 to help bring the show back. (Disclosure: Before Destructoid, I worked at a now-shuttered ReedPop outlet, USgamer.) The resulting plans resembled something like Gamescom. An in-person event with both industry and consumer days was announced, and then canceled.
In a statement via GIbiz, ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis said the association appreciated ReedPop’s partnership.
“While the reach of E3 remains unmatched in our industry, we are continuing to explore how we can evolve it to best serve the video game industry and are evaluating every aspect of the event, from format to location,” said Pierre-Louis. “We are committed to our role as a convenor for the industry and look forward to sharing news about E3 in the coming months.”
“We have enjoyed our time working with the ESA and appreciate their commitment to the games industry as a whole,” said ReedPop games events head Kyle Marsden-Kish. “While we will not be involved with the future of E3 we look forward to seeing its evolution and where the ESA takes it.”
An uncertain future
So, it seems like we’re back to questioning what’s next for E3. At this point, any 2024 plan seems rocky. Notably, GIbiz says the ESA is working on a complete reinvention of E3 for 2025.
If 2024 plans fall through, we will have gone five years—2020 through ’24—without an in-person E3. All the while, events like Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest have swooped in to take the summertime slot.
I’d really wonder what a reinvented E3 can bring to the table to try and get everyone back on-board after multiple cancellations. Maybe a return to Vegas? Or maybe E3 evolves into something else entirely. We’ll learn more as the ESA reveals its plans.
