After having officially announced the program E3 formerly glorious in December 2023, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) unveiled the launch of the Innovation Innovation Conference (IICON), an event only designed to bring visionaries, leaders of Opinion and innovators through industries that meet with interactive entertainment.
Taking up at April 27 to 30, 2026, at the Fontainebleau Resort in Las Vegas, Iicon hopes to capitalize on the world video game industry which should exceed $ 300 billion in revenue planned by 2027, according to a statement published yesterday.
With this new event, ESA said that participants will have exclusive access to visionary keys, discussions and engaging workshops and elite networking opportunities with executives shaping the future of entertainment, business and technology . The organizers promise to bring together a wide range of sectors that converge with interactive entertainment, including cinema, television and music, as well as sports, health care, education, finance, etc.
Related: ESA and REEDPOP announce the cancellation of E3 2023
Context: The ESA has been a defender of the American video game industry since its creation in 1994. Its members are creators, publishers and business leaders in the video game industry. The first E3 took place in May 1995 at Los Angeles Convention Center Center. At its peak, E3 attracted nearly 70,000 participants to its event in 2018. Its last event in person took place in 2019, but ESA had planned to resuscitate trade and the consumer fair in person in June 2023 with The help of Reedpop, a division of the RX public company which produces B2C emissions like New York Comic, Pax Unplugged and C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo).
Related: ESA is associated with RX’s Reedpop to bring back E3 after a three -year interruption
What they say: “For decades, video games have been at the forefront of technological and cultural innovation,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, who has been president and chief executive officer of ESA since May 2019. “With Iicon , we create a space for visionaries through the industries to gather, connect and reinvent what is possible thanks to interactive entertainment.
Related: Fontainebleau Las Vegas, long awaited, should make its debut in December
Deeper diving: “The association of entertainment software and its member companies are among the innovators and managers who shape the future of culture, business and human connection. It is a natural role for ESA to welcome and To support an event that promotes an open exchange of new ideas with our peer, industry leaders, “said ESA Chairman of the Board of Directors Doug Bowser, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nintendo of America. “Iicon brings together changes from all industries to consider how the forces of the interactive entertainment industry can innovate entirely.”
Related: ESA Nixes E3 2022 Virtual Event after recent cancellation of the show in person
Need to know: Participants will learn and engage with industry icons, including Amazon Games leaders, Disney, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square Enix, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Games.
What the exhibitors say: The leaders of some of the main companies in the video game industry have expressed enthusiasm for Iicon as a key opportunity to stimulate innovation and promote collaboration between the sectors. “We appreciate that ESA establishes Iicon as a platform to deepen the links between executives and opinion leaders from games, and from a wide range of partner industries,” said Sarah Bond, president, Xbox. “Together, we will collaborate, invent and create – and together, we will all grow.”
Main image: entrance from Fontainebleau Resort to Las Vegas. Photo: Shutterstock