E3 2024 and 2025: Explosive Updates Await! What You Need to Know

Newly surfaced public records suggest that the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) may have already decided to cancel the 2024 and 2025 editions of E3. This adds weight to the growing belief that E3 might never fully recover from the cancellation it faced in 2023.

Over the past decade, the Electronic Entertainment Expo has lost some of its allure as more major publishers opted to host their own events, rather than sharing the spotlight with competitors. While this shift in focus didn't necessarily pose a threat to the show's existence, E3 has been on shaky ground since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic led to the cancellations of E3 2020 and 2022, and prompted organizers to experiment with an online-only format for E3 2021. However, this alternative received mixed reviews from both consumers and exhibitors.

The most recent occurrence of the show saw its most troubling abandonment to date when E3 2023 was canceled in late March due to a general lack of interest from publishers. Although the organizers have stated that they are not giving up on the event entirely, it seems that they have already made the decision to cancel the next two editions of E3. This information was revealed in a convention sales brief from a June 21 meeting of the Los Angeles City Tourism Board of Commissioners, as first discovered by ResetEra user Rosti.

The possibility of a virtual E3 in the future cannot be ruled out completely, considering that the local government's involvement is primarily due to the Los Angeles Convention Center being the chosen venue. However, it is concerning that the ESA has already abandoned the idea of a traditional E3 in the coming years, which does not bode well for the show's future and its declining reputation. In the grand scheme of things, Summer Game Fest has already taken on the role of the prominent mid-year event for major game announcements since E3 faced challenges during the pandemic in 2020. Although the recently concluded 2023 edition of Summer Game Fest received criticism for its lack of representation, it did not disappoint in terms of the diverse and plentiful game reveals. With the confirmation of the 2024 Summer Game Fest and the newly revealed evidence of E3's cancellations, the road to recovery for E3 seems increasingly difficult and almost impossible.

Source: ResetEra