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The world’s biggest video game show will not be returning to Los Angeles in 2024 nor 2025. There are no plans to hold E3 in the city anytime soon and, after its cancellation this year too, many now believe that it is gone for good.
The writing was already on the wall, with Summer Game Fest having replaced the show this summer and doing an excellent job. Now it’s been revealed that the organiser of E3, ReedPop, has cancelled the next two years’ worth of bookings it made for the LA Convention Center.
This was spotted by ResetEra in notes posted by the Los Angeles City Tourism Board of Commissioners. They reveal that the bookings can no longer be honoured.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be an E3 show in 2024 or 25 – after all, it has taken place in a different city before. It was held in 1997 and 98 in Atlanta (with GamesLifer in attendance at the first of those) as the LACC was already booked, but considering Summer Game Fest is already confirmed to be returning to LA next summer, it would be strange to have competing events in dramatically different places.
The pandemic was certainly a factor as to why E3 has struggled in the last few years, but that’s not the only reason. Originally a trade show, it also opened its doors fully to the public in 2017, which made it overcrowded and difficult for the media to cover. There were also extremely long queues to play game demos, which wasn’t great for fans neither.
In addition, major gaming companies decided not to exhibit at the show, with many withdrawing before the pandemic started – including PlayStation, Electronic Arts, Activision, and Xbox. By the end, even the likes of Ubisoft withdrew from the event to host their own, off-site experiences instead.
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