Video games' biggest trade show : Electronic Entertainment Expo (AKA: E3) has been permanently cancelled

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, once the largest and most prestigious exhibition in the field of video games, has been permanently cancelled.

The conference's website was nearly empty on Tuesday, but it did carry the following statement: “After more than two decades at E3, it's getting bigger every time, and now it's time to say goodbye. Thanks for the memories. "

Known as "Video Game Christmas", E3 was held in Los Angeles in 1995. The message ends with "GGWP", short for "Good Game, Good Game", often used as a friendly ending after a video game competition. The corona pandemic dealt a fatal blow to the convention, forcing it to be canceled entirely in 2020, an online event in 2021 and canceled entirely in 2022. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which organizes the event, originally planned to return as host to the in-person E3 in 2023, but ultimately canceled the event and there was no online replacement event. The E3 Game Show used to be where the biggest gaming companies debuted their flashiest games and trailers, but over the years the E3 Game Show has become more popular as more game companies turn to streaming to publicize their events. go down

Nintendo did this in 2011, dropping by E3 for its keynote, while Sony announced news about its Playstation console elsewhere in 2018. By comparison, a few years ago E3 was the center of the gaming world: Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo launched new consoles at the show during the year.

The transition represents a shift from purchasing video games in person to downloading them online. Skip previous newsletter campaigns

Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the European Space Agency, told the Washington Post: "We know it's hard to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but given our industry's great access to fans and partners, new opportunities are emerging and it's the right thing to do." "Each of these big companies can create one screen... which is exciting for our industry and means it's an opportunity for them to explore how they can reach new audiences in different ways."

The 2017 conference sought to revive interest by issuing an open invitation to the public. Around 66,000 people attended the last live event at E3 in 2019. Previously, convention attendees had to demonstrate a connection to the video game industry to maintain an air of exclusivity.