NEW YORK: Sponsors of E3, a long-running videogame trade show, pulled the plug on its 2023 gathering, announcing on the event’s website on March 30 they will “reevaluate” the future of the expo.

The move comes as more major gaming players announce their own digital gatherings and following reports that titans such as Xbox, Nintendo and Sony had planned to sit out the event.

“Show organiser ReedPop announces E3 2023 will not take place as scheduled this June, with both physical and digital events cancelled,” the show website said.

“Alongside the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), both parties will reevaluate the future of E3.”

The ESA had sponsored the big gathering annually since 1995, usually in Los Angeles, but cancelled the event in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and held a virtual version in 2021.

Last July, sponsors announced plans for a return to a physical event in June 2023 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, speaking of a show that would be “recognisably epic” with publishers, developers, content creators and licensors.

But ReedPop’s Kyle Marsden-Kish cited a lack of “playable demos” from interested companies, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

While the cancellation was “a difficult decision”, Marsden-Kish said “we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3,” according to the paper.

 - AFP