E3 2023 Cancelled

[nonny]

Just seen this... they've canned it for this year.

Very sad, but with most major players having their own shows the writing was on the wall.

https://www.ign.com/articles/e3-has-been-canceled

[phillv85]

I guess Ubisoft pulling out was the final nail. It’s a shame but the writing has been on the wall for some time.

[nonny]

Seems that way ... just added in the link.

You'd assume this means it's potentially never coming back.

[Asura]

You'd assume this means it's potentially never coming back.

It'll be back.

These things are cyclical. When everyone's doing a glorified YouTube presentation, the first publisher that puts on a proper show will get views. Then everyone will want to do that. Then they'll spend too much and want to do videos again. Circle of life.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm going to say it. I completely understand the issues with E3 and why it's time has passed but...

... these modern era Directs are bloody **** by comparison. E3 was a genuine event on the calendar and frankly haven't been replaced by anything that has come along to take its place. Whilst there was the inevitable debate and deflation over the big three's showings each year there was also the build up, anticipation and then coming away hyped for several games that would be turning up months or sometimes years later.

Now we live in an era of ever decreasing youtube videos being released that showcase titles so close to release that they not only mean that one or two speculations aside we don't actually know the immediate months and year of releases anymore let alone anything further out and also that each one commonly deep focuses on a single title due for release so much that it kills your day one bubble.

It feels like they've become so desperate to control their own presentations, unable to get them wrong because it's all pre-recorded now, that there's just no sense of event on the calendar anymore. No remaining show comes remotely close to what E3 was in its heyday.

I get those days are gone, the sales figures for hardware and software alone give the companies no need to go back to that model, but man... gaming is a drier, blander hobby without it.

[dataDave]

I don’t miss having to wait years for a new game at all (plus however many months for localisation for local people). I prefer the Nintendo Directs. Three to six months of waiting is just right.

[Nu-Eclipse]

It'll be back.

These things are cyclical. When everyone's doing a glorified YouTube presentation, the first publisher that puts on a proper show will get views. Then everyone will want to do that. Then they'll spend too much and want to do videos again. Circle of life.

Extremely wishful thinking.

E3 has been on life support for the longest time. It's archaic and no longer needed.

[speedlolita]

[eastyy]

Funny thing is when I see many of these online presentations by Nintendo Microsoft and Sony among others my first reactions are usually....is that it? If I went to a show for that I would be very very disappointed

[QualityChimp]

I really like the idea of E3, where companies big and small come together to reveal what they've been working on and it's a great focus for the year to celebrate videogames, both in the past year and also what is upcoming.

However, most companies don't seem to like the competition and have decided to have their own shows.

I totally get that and in these times of the internet ruining every single surprise before it's announced, there seems little point in having a crescendo to your year's work.

I think it's sad to see the companies go their disparate ways in announcing their new stuff, but I guess that's where we're at, these days.

[fuse]

When everyone's doing a glorified YouTube presentation, the first publisher that puts on a proper show will get views.

I don't get this - what exactly is it that makes the difference here? Is it the live audience, or that when things go bad the presenters have to do damage control? Not being facetious here, I genuinely don't understand how it makes that much difference to the home audience. If anything, I could really do without the hooting and hollering, and prefer the exhaustively prepared ND format that speaks directly to the viewer.

[Neon Ignition]

I think with E3 part of it was the live atmosphere, even if you were watching it from home, and the kind of relentless nature of it. For 48 hours you just go announcement after announcement that collectively together was a what made it feel more like a 'thing'. That scale of combined effort and showmanship was what made E3 not just stand out but it stood out on a yearly calendar that also contained other in person shows that weren't able to build a name as strong for themselves as E3 was at the time.

I think the Directs were solid initially but these days Nintendo has opted for a very deep dive approach and a delivery that is dry as hell. MS is kind of getting a better handle on them now whilst Sony... well, other than knowing since launch that Spider-Man 2 was arriving sometime late this year they can't be bothered to announce or confirm hardly anything anymore. Perhaps the biggest vacuum element is that when Nintendo started Directs it was different. Now, because everyone is doing them, they're hardly any different than the daily, weekly etc youtube vids and trailer releases for everything else.

Things like Comic Con still operate an in-person, annual event even though film companies can just as easily operate online presentations themselves and make announcements etc all year round. I strongly suspect bad management is still a bigger player in E3's demise compared to Directs.

[Asura]

I don't get this - what exactly is it that makes the difference here? Is it the live audience, or that when things go bad the presenters have to do damage control? Not being facetious here, I genuinely don't understand how it makes that much difference to the home audience. If anything, I could really do without the hooting and hollering, and prefer the exhaustively prepared ND format that speaks directly to the viewer.

People are totally focusing on the EA's and Nintendo's though, who can pull their audience just by putting a video up on YouTube. Most publishers can't do this, but they'll try.

The point is that the entire goal of doing these updates is to make a fuss and grab an audience. When Nintendo started doing the directs, they were very popular (and they still are, but its Nintendo). When everyone's doing those wildcat announcements throughout the year, and there's practically 5-10 per month, it'll start to get lost amid everything else people are looking at (Marvel movies, next season of Mando, whatever).

E3 and shows like it do two things - they both announce a ton of stuff with pomp, but also create a collective industry vacuum that helps build up anticipation. A big part of trying to launch products is "cutting through the noise" and big live events help with that.

[Lebowski]

They need a big online event or some sort of youtube/twitch games festival where devs can put their videos and announcements up, i'm really suprised that you-tube hasn't jumped on the hole in the market here.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I don't mind them all doing videos, but I'd like them all to be on the same day/weekend.