Hope springs eternal, I guess.
It’s been 3 years without a physical E3; the last one was in 2019. 2021 saw a digital event occur, but that likely didn’t perform to the level the ESA hoped, as not only did they not plan one for this year, they also canceled this year’s planned physical event citing concerns of the Omicron (Persei 8) variant of COVID.
But hark! Word has come down from on high! The ESA plans on a physical (and digital) show in their usual venue in LA for 2023. After all, most of the other trade shows related to video games are coming back this year, if they weren’t already back in some limited capacity.
As Stan Pierre-Louis, CEO of the ESA, said to The Washington Post:
We’re excited about coming back in 2023 with both a digital and an in-person event. As much as we love these digital events, and as much as they reach people and we want that global reach, we also know that there’s a really strong desire for people to convene — to be able to connect in person and see each other and talk about what makes games great.
Stan Pierre-Louis
Which might make you wonder why they pulled the emergency brakes this year. Well, a venue like the Los Angeles Convention Center is both costly, and frequently booked all year round. If they weren’t absolutely certain by a given date that they wouldn’t be shut down by The Virus: GOTY Edition, it was likely better to take the L entirely, rather than potentially waste what is probably a considerable sum on an empty venue that they were making no money on.
That said, most might question why it would come back at all. After all, most of the major players have taken their presentations out of the theaters, and into controlled livestreams on the Internet. The fact is, however, that there’s more to it than just the show floor. It isn’t just where journalists get their first impressions, and fat men in their 40’s dressed as Mario clog up the Nintendo booth every year. This is where people meet and a considerable number of deals are made. It’s also super important to the Indie scene, and for the same reason; this is how and where those small devs get the attention of the big fish.
Time will tell if E3 actually goes off in 2023. Or if *rolls d12* Demon Fever makes fools of them again next year.
Source: Kotaku
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