E3 2023 will definitely happen, says the ESA
ESA president and CEO Stan Pierre-Louis confirmed the event is planned for next year — and will even be in-person.
With all the hubbub today around Summer Game Fest 2022, it’s sometimes easy to forget about the other huge gaming industry event that happens in June. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, is — or at least, was — a juggernaut gaming event that united several leading developers and publishers to announce their upcoming games. With two E3s cancelled due to COVID-19, though, many wondered whether or not E3 2023 will even happen.
But the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the company behind E3, recently assured us it will. In an interview with The Washington Post, ESA president and CEO Stan Pierre-Louis stated that next year’s event is happening — and will even be in-person. As he says:
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, President and CEO at ESA
E3 2023? Supposedly, it’s a go
Given the continuing pandemic, it’s perfectly reasonable to be skeptical that E3 2023 will actually happen. The likely best case scenario is that it transitions to a fully-digital conference. Yet the ESA is nothing if not persistent in its goals for a live, in-person event.
There’s certainly merits for an in-person event for industry professionals and press members (who, let’s remember, were the original E3 audience). For the ESA, it seems that a hybrid approach is their ideal scenario. Pierre-Louis explained the rationale behind that decision:
I think what’s great about all this experimentation is that companies of all sizes are trying to figure out what works best to promote the product and the content that they are looking to share with consumers. And I think there is a space for a physical show; I think there’s an importance of having digital reach. Combining those two, I think there is a critical element of what we think E3 can provide.
Stan Pierre-Louis, President and CEO at ESA
Do you think E3 2023 is really going to happen? What do you think of this return to physical events? Let us know!
Via The Washington Post.
