The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the video-game trade group responsible for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), has announced that the long-standing video game conference will be permanently cancelled. Initiated in 1995, E3, the once-epicenter of the gaming industry, has been on a declining trajectory over recent years, largely due to gaming giants launching their own events and drastically altering the landscape of the industry.

Despite numerous attempts to rejuvenate and reposition the conference, E3 has struggled to regain the popularity and relevance it once held within the gaming community. The ESA stated, “After more than two decades of E3, each one bigger than the last, the time has come to say goodbye.” This statement not only marks the end of an era but also signifies major shifts in the gaming industry as a whole. For the past 28 years, E3 has witnessed the evolution of gaming, thereby marking a significant era in the history of entertainment software.