The longtime games expo E3 officially died this week. While everyone has their thoughts on what ended the event, its true killing blow came from within.
A new report from IGN charts the “significant change” in leadership from E3’s parent company, the Electronic Software Association (ESA). When then-E3 head Dan Hewitt left in 2019, he was replaced by new leaders who reportedly lacked event-planning experience needed for such a project.
That lack of experience was evident to developers this year. Speaking bluntly, Tencent’s North American communications head Chris Kramer said the ESA “dropped the ball” in 2020 (when E3 was cancelled) and 2021 (its first-ever virtual showcase). Those who replaced Hewitt, he added, “seemed to not understand the significance of the show.”
For this year’s E3, the ESA partnered (and then split) with ReedPop to try and get it out the door. It was ultimately cancelled, which Kramer called an “astonishing disaster,” not helped by several studios pulling out weeks before it was meant to start.
“The ESA tried to present a game face after the flop of this year, it was clear that their mishandling of the E3 brand had effectively killed it,” he stated.
Prior to E3 2023’s end, IGN reported that developers bowed out because the event organizers failed to provide substantial information beforehand. The lack of transparency was so strong, one source told the outlet there was “no possible way this show can happen.”
IGN’s full report on E3’s demise and its impact on the industry going forward, can be read here.