E3 cancels 2023 event, leaving Los Angeles without a major gaming convention

E3, which once focused heavily on gaming retail, has faced a challenge with a shift to digital storefronts and the rise of online, trailer-focused gaming events. — Ronen Tivony/Sipa USA/TNS

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, colloquially known as E3, was canceled Thursday months before it was to open at the Los Angeles Convention Center celebration in June. The gaming event, once heralded as the industry's largest in North America, has been at a crossroads in recent years, with major developers beginning to to opt out of the L.A. celebration in favor of their own more fan-targeted gatherings. Both in-person and online events associated with E3 are now fully canceled.

This would have been the first E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center since 2019, when the event was welcomed to the city with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with then-Mayor Eric Garcetti. E3's cancellation leaves a giant hole on Los Angeles' summer convention calendar, and without what was once a signature event.