Do you miss attending E3 in person? Don't worry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has good news. After canceling E3 2022 earlier this year, the ESA has confirmed that E3 is still alive and well.
ESA President and CEO, Stan Pierre-Louis, sat down with The Washington Post where he acknowledged the success of digital showcases. Pierre-Louis cited Geoff Keighly's Summer Game Fest, Nintendo Direct, and Sony's State of Play, as examples of such events. However, Pierre-Louis also defended the importance of in-person gaming conventions. According to Pierre-Louis, "there's a really strong desire for people to convene - to be able to connect in person and see each other talk about what makes games great."
Most important of all, Pierre-Louis reaffirmed in the same interview that "E3 is coming back in 2023 with both a digital and an in-person event."
The ESA has done an excellent job weathering storms. Three years of no in-person events is no joke. Even if E3 2021 pushed through, it just wasn't the same. Of course, this isn't ESA's first tussle with tough times. The long-running must-watch industry event persevered even after multiple gaming studios like Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, and Sony, left many years ago. In the case of EA and Activision Blizzard, ESA saw its former highlights hold their own in-person video game showcases at nearby locations.