E3

E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) is a trade event for the video game industry in the United States. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishers, hardware, and accessory manufacturers use to introduce and advertise upcoming games and game-related merchandise to retailers and to members of the press. E3 includes an exhibition floor for developers, publishers, and manufacturers to showcase their titles and products for sale in the upcoming year. Before and during the event, publishers and hardware manufacturers usually hold press conferences to announce new games and products. Over time, E3 has been considered the largest gaming-expo of the year by importance and impact. Before 2017, E3 was an industry-only event; the ESA required individuals wishing to attend to verify a professional relationship with the video game industry. With the rise of streaming media, several press conferences were broadcast to the public to increase their visibility. E3 2017 became open to the public for the first time, with 15,000 general-admittance passes for those who wanted to attend. E3 takes place annually in June at the Los Angeles Convention Center (from 1995 to 2006, and again from 2008 to 2019). The event was cancelled for the first time in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the event in 2021 was held online. The 2022 event, still in the wake of the pandemic, was cancelled in full, but the ESA planned to return to a full in-person convention in 2023 with assistance from ReedPop to organize a new format. However, due to several publishers having already begun to organize showcase events (in-person or purely digital) on their own or through the Summer Game Fest (that is organized by journalist Geoff Keighley), few publishers committed to E3 2023 or pulled out, and the ESA opted to cancel the 2023 event and use the time to evaluate further changes to future shows.