In the last days of March, news came, which most likely states that another era of the gaming industry has come to an end. The organizers of the largest themed exhibition, E3, announced the cancellation of the general assembly this year.
The reason for such a decision is stated as “low interest in the event.” And it is true – publishers like PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Ubisoft, and many others declined to attend the show. Among the big players, the only one who confirmed their participation is KONAMI. This is related to the fact that gaming companies in recent years have been focusing on their own shows, which are mainly held online. This way they save money and attract more attention to their brand. The starting point of this process can be called 2020 when COVID-19 began to spread around the world. In that year, the Electronic Entertainment Expo was canceled, but it returned in the digital form the next year. Then there was another break, and this summer E3 was supposed to restart not only as an online event but also as an offline event. It’s not meant to be. The organizers still believe in the future of the exhibition, but the gaming community already understands that the era has come to an end.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo was first held in May 1995 in Los Angeles (the basic but not a permanent venue), and for almost 28 years has held the status of the most massive event in the industry.
In the context of GTA and Rockstar Games, we mainly remember E3 thanks to reports that the company will not be honored with its arrival (as in 2010, 2011, 2012, and other years). But it wasn’t always like that – in 2020 and 2014, the studio presented new versions of GTA 5 and GTA Online in LA, in 2007 and 2009, the first information about the never-released PS3 exclusive Agent appeared. And more than 20 years ago, in E3 2001, the GTA 3 trailer was shown.
Source: gta.com.ua