LOS ANGELES — THE Entertainment Software Association (ESA) partners with ReedPopa boutique group within RX and producer of pop culture events such as New York Comic Con, Star Wars Celebration and the PAX series of festivals for gamers, to produce the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2023.
E3, the world’s premier celebration of interactive entertainment, returns to Los Angeles Convention Center in the second week of June 2023, after a three-year hiatus. This will be the first time since 2019 that the exhibition will be held in person, although there will still be a virtual option to attend.
The event first opened to the public in 2017, more than two decades after its inauguration. In 2019, more than 66,000 people attended E3. A digital E3 was held in 2021, but the in-person event was canceled entirely for 2022 due to concerns about the spread of COVID.
LeftField Media is ready to safely bring the geek community together at in-person events
E3 will bring together manufacturers, buyers, licensors, content creators, journalists, publishers and developers. The event offers these stakeholders the opportunity to showcase and promote upcoming games and related products and merchandise for the video game industry.
The world’s largest video game show will feature AAA reveals, world premieres, and exclusive access to the future of gaming. The expo will also feature digital showcases and in-person consumer components.
“We’re really going to reinvent E3 from the ground up,” said Lance Fensterman, president of ReedPop. “We’re going to add more content, like keynotes, panels and discussions on a variety of topics. There will be more differences from 2019 than there will be similarities.”
Fensterman said the video game industry is at a crossroads, with business doing well but the number of games being released is down. Supply chain disruptions and remote work are slowing down video game production, and the reimagined E3 will give the gaming industry a chance to come together and discuss how to solve the problems it faces.
ReedPop has formed a new team specifically for E3, led by Kyle Marsden-Kish, ReedPop’s vice president of global gaming. “For years, we’ve listened, heard and studied feedback from the global gaming community,” Marsden-Kish said in a statement. “E3 2023 will be recognizable as an epic — a return to form that honors what has always worked — while reshaping what went wrong and setting a new benchmark for video game exhibitions in 2023 and beyond.”
“The entire ReedPop organization is very excited about the challenge of reintroducing and reinventing E3,” Fensterman said. “It’s an honor and it’s exciting to have the opportunity to say, ‘Let’s make this our show that will serve the industry in a new and exciting way.’”
Registration for E3 will open later this year. Confirmed exhibitors, hotel and travel guides, event schedules and more will be shared via the site E3 website.
Contact Lance Fensterman at lfensterman@reedexpo.com