The ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis spoke with GamesIndustry.biz and said," We were off to a strong start. There was interest among exhibitors, industry players, media and certainly the fans. Ultimately, however, there were challenges that proved too large to surmount."
In the statement to GameSpot, ReedPop also confirmed that digital showcases scheduled around E3 will still take place; those include Summer Game Fest and Xbox and Bethesda showcases. The company also said that it will continue to work with the ESA on future E3 events, suggesting that though E3 2023 is canceled, this is not the end for the iconic industry event. E3 could possibly appear again in future years.
ReedPop and the ESA announced E3 2023's cancellation after months of uncertainty surrounding the event. Big publishers like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo said they'd skip the event, and just recently, Ubisoft also said it was pulling out in favor of holding its own Ubisoft Forward showcase.