E3 2023: Everything We Know

E3 has been a staple of the games industry for decades, but it’s going through a massive transition right now. After a tumultuous few years punctuated by big publishers pulling out and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting plans, the ESA canceled 2022’s E3. Months later, the ESA confirmed that E3 would return in 2023 with some major changes, including a new organizer.

Here’s everything we know about E3 2023, beginning with a recap of the events that got us here.

E3 is back in 2023

After a three-year hiatus from live events, the Electronic Entertainment Expo will return to the Los Angeles Convention Center for E3 2023 from June 13-16, and it will feature separate areas and days for industry and consumer events.

E3 Business Days, as they are known, are scheduled for June 13-15 and will be limited to registered industry members for networking, meetings, and more. Media will also be allowed to go hands-on with upcoming games in dedicated, industry-only spaces, including one half of the LACC.

E3 Gamer Days–the portion of the event open to the public–will run June 15 and 16 in the other half of the LACC, separate from the industry area. This will allow players to go hands-on with the same upcoming games, as well as connect with developers, content creators, and more. This area will also be open to industry members during their designated days.

In addition to events on the show floor itself, there will be “partnered digital events and showcases” before E3 2023 officially begins. These will start on June 11, and, reading between the lines, it sounds like this is a reference to standalone showcases from Microsoft, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony and more. Historically, those companies and others held their own events prior to the official start of E3.

A new organizer

Since its inception, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has run E3, but ReedPop–the company that organizes PAX, NYCC, and Star Wars Celebration–is taking over in 2023. The ESA remains involved, however, as a partner to ReedPop.

“With the support and endorsement of the ESA, we’re going to build a world-class event to serve the global gaming industry in new and broader ways than we already do at ReedPop through our portfolio of world leading events and web sites,” ReedPop said.

The ESA is a lobbying group that represents the interests of video game companies in Washington, D.C. In 2018, a US politician from Hawaii told GameSpot that people from the ESA or working on their behalf flew to the island state to try to shut down efforts to regulate loot boxes in video games. The ESA also courted criticism when, in 2019, it accidentally leaked the personal information of video game journalists and other members of the media.

More to come

With E3 2023 officially on the books for June 2023, fans can expect more news to come in the new year. In the coming months, we should learn more about the specific show rundown and other key particulars both for the main event and any other related showcases. After all, the show is less than six months away!

What happened to E3 2022?

In late March 2022, the ESA officially confirmed rumors that had been circulating that E3 2022 would be canceled in its entirety. That included not just the in-person event–which had previously been scuttled due to the continuing risk of the coronavirus pandemic–but also its digital component that had served as a stopgap.

Even before the coronavirus hit, though, E3 was in a state of flux. Publishers like Activision and EA pulled out in favor of their own events. Plus, the ESA had begun allowing the public in, making it more directly comparable to fan-focused events like PAX. That made the future of E3 somewhat murky in general, as the show seemed to be transitioning from a business-to-business event covered by the press into something else entirely. What it would ultimately become was the subject of much speculation.