E3 2024 and 2025 have been cancelled, LA Tourism Board claims

UPDATE: The ESA claims “no final decisions” made on next year’s plans

E3 2024 and 2025 have reportedly been cancelled.

That’s according to the Los Angeles City Tourism Board, which notes in a meeting packet (spotted by ResetEra) published on Wednesday that a summary of planned city conventions “includes E3 cancellations for 2024 and 2025”.

E3 was due to return for its first in-person show in four years this month. However, after months of build-up and uncertainty, the show was cancelled in March.

Update22nd Jun 2023 / 11:40 pm

In a statement issued to VGC, E3 owner The ESA claims that “no final decisions” have been made about next year’s potential event.

“ESA is currently having conversations about E3 2024 (and beyond), and no final decisions about the event have been made at this time.”

At the time, E3’s new organiser ReedPop claimed that it “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry”.

It’s possible revival plans could involve relocating outside of Los Angeles, where E3 has been held for two decades, but otherwise, the future of the once-flagship event of the games industry doesn’t look bright.

VGC has contacted E3’s organizer ReedPop for clarification.

In E3’s absence, many smaller events took place in LA this month, including producer Geoff Keighley’s rival Summer Game Fest, Ubisoft Forward, and an Xbox Showcase.

Speaking to VGC last month, Keighley dismissed suggestions that competition from his rival event was partly responsible for the cancellation of E3 2023.

Keighley started Summer Game Fest in 2020 after he split from E3, where he previously held its Coliseum live events. At the time, he cited being “uncomfortable” with organiser ESA‘s plans for E3.

“I think E3 sort of killed itself in a way,” Keighley said. “I understand why people say [SGF killed E3], but I think if anything, we created Summer Game Fest, and I built Summer Game Fest because I saw the wheels falling off the wagon of E3.

“As someone who loves that time of year… for two decades, E3 was part of my life since I was a 15-year-old kid. [From] the first E3 in 1995, I went to every show. I loved it and it defined my summer.”

He added: “It was so exciting to me, and it was heartbreaking to see that start to fall apart. I think they had a relevancy problem, and then they also had a participation problem over the final years.

“So yeah, I think the question is, if we didn’t do Summer Game Fest what would happen? I think things would have just kind of really splintered apart this summer.”