A full three years have passed since E3 has fully opened its doors to the public. While some mourn its absence, other avenues have opened up to take its place. For years E3 has dominated the video game industry, serving as the major annual event for numerous product announcements. However, in the past two years, recent controversies have threatened the longevity of the convention. Despite this, in an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, Stan Pierre-Louis CEO and president of E3’s parent company ESA says that the video game convention is far from over. The ESA president happily announced the return of E3 for summer 2023 in a digital and in-person format, elaborating on the importance of E3 and its in-person events:
“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.”
Ever since the advent of live streaming and digital events, the existence of E3 has been called into question by fans. Digital events save game companies and fans from suffering the expected expenses when traveling and setting up for in-person events. The Summer Game Fest by former E3 host Geoff Keighley along with other small digital events are seen by many as E3’s successors. However, it can be hard to deny the certain novelty of in-person events, and for Pierre-Louis, you can’t go wrong doing things the old-fashioned way.
The announcement of E3’s return is overshadowed by a string of controversies from the previous E3 event in 2021; The most prominent issues being the restrictions on who could live stream E3′s digital-only 2021 event and a “friend-finding” social feature that revealed users’ details. No matter what the majority consensus is around E3, it’s safe to say that Summer 2023 is looking to be an eventful experience.
For the full interview, visit the Washington Post’s article.