Electronic Entertainment Expo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Electronic Entertainment Expo |
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The Los Angeles Convention Center (west wing view) where the event took place each year
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| Status | Defunct |
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| Venue | Los Angeles Convention Center |
| Location(s) | Los Angeles, California |
| Coordinates | 34°02′23″N 118°16′13″W / 34.03972°N 118.27028°W |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 1995–2019, 2021 |
| Inaugurated | May 11, 1995 |
| Most recent | June 12, 2021 |
| Attendance |  66,100 (2019) |
| Organized by | Entertainment Software Association |
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was a trade event for the video game industry in the United States. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organized and presented E3, which many developers, publishers, hardware, and accessory manufacturers used to introduce and advertise upcoming games and game-related merchandise to retailers and to members of the press. E3 included an exhibition floor for developers, publishers, and manufacturers to showcase their titles and products for sale in the upcoming year. Before and during the event, publishers and hardware manufacturers usually held press conferences to announce new games and products.
During its existence, E3 was often considered the largest and most prestigious gaming expo of the year by importance and impact. Before 2017, E3 was an industry-only event; the ESA required individuals wishing to attend to verify a professional relationship with the video game industry. With the rise of streaming media, several press conferences were broadcast to the public to increase their visibility. E3 2017 became open to the public for the first time, with 15,000 general-admittance passes for those who wanted to attend.
E3 took place annually in June at the Los Angeles Convention Center (from 1995 to 2006, and again from 2008 to 2019). The event was cancelled for the first time in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the event in 2021 was held as a virtual event to mixed reception. The 2022 event was cancelled also due to the pandemic, and with no virtual event held. The ESA had planned to return to a full in-person convention in 2023 with assistance from ReedPop to develop a new format, which would have included a fan convention component at a separate venue.
The pandemic further accelerated the use of standalone presentations by individual publishers and media outlets to promote upcoming games directly to consumers, development timelines usually aligned around the convention had been disrupted, and publishers were increasingly concerned over the costs of exhibiting at E3. E3 2023 was cancelled after all major publishers pulled out of the event, and E3 2024 was cancelled in September 2023 in order to evaluate plans for 2025. The ESA ultimately announced on December 12, 2023, that E3 would be permanently discontinued, thereby ending a 28-year history of E3.
Images for kids
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Los Angeles Convention Center during E3 2005, with an Atari banner hanging over the South Hall lobby
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E3 2015 with Uncharted 4: A Thief's End banner
See also
In Spanish: Electronic Entertainment Expo para niños
