It’s official:E3is dead. After several failed attempts to bring the industry event back, organisers admit that it’s ending for good, making 2019 the last time E3 was held in person.

This is being reported by theWashington Post, quoting Entertainment Software Association (ESA) president, Stanley Pierre-Louis. In a statement, Pierre-Louis says it’s “difficult to say goodbye”, but adds that ending E3 is the “right thing to do”.

“We know the entire industry, players and creators alike have a lot of passion for E3. We share that passion,” says Pierre-Louis. “We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners.” The ESA has since confirmed that Pierre-Louis' statement means that E3 is ending for good, sharing another statement on social media, thanking attendees for the memories.

E3 2023 had already been cancelled, with both an in-person and virtual event ruled out in March, but this is the first confirmation that E3 is gone for good. It’s unsurprising, but the impact of this news is wide-reaching all the same, ending one of the most iconic trade shows in the industry.

It leaves Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards as the defacto industry leaders. While they hadn’t had competition from E3 for some time, they are now the largest events to host announcements from all corners of the industry, not just specific companies.

The first E3 was held in 1995, lasting 27 years before ending for good. The last year E3 was held at all was 2021, which was an online-only event due to the global pandemic.

Despite this, companies continue to move towards hosting their own industry events, often not open to the public or press. Instead, they are often held through controlled live streams or pre-recorded shows, ranging fromNintendo Directs,PlayStation State of Plays, orXbox Games Showcases. This was seen as a contributing factor to the decline of E3, withSony being the first major publisher to pull out of the show entirely.

Still, the industry isn’t completely done with trade shows, as we saw with the world premieres hosted by The Game Awards last week. That said, the show was criticised by viewers for focussing too heavily on announcements and not spending enough time celebrating developers and actors, asaward acceptance speeches were limited to just 30 secondsin many instances.