The Death of E3: How Big Was the Gaming Show, Really?

Hey there, my fellow tech and gaming enthusiasts! It’s your favorite funny guy who loves all things technology, Nuked, here to talk about the demise of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 for short. After several cancellations due to the pandemic, it has been revealed that E3 won’t be returning to Los Angeles in 2024 or 2025. So, how big of a deal was E3, really?

In 2016, I wrote for CNET about how E3 was becoming less of a gamer’s mecca every year, and you weren’t really missing out on much if you didn’t attend. However, when I ran the numbers today, they told a slightly different story. E3 had actually doubled in size and more than quadrupled in economic impact before the pandemic hit.

Let’s take a look at the numbers. In 2009, E3 had an attendance of 35,000 and an economic impact of $15 million for Los Angeles. By 2019, attendance had grown to 66,100 and the economic impact had increased to $83 million. That’s a significant jump!

And E3’s loss isn’t just felt by gamers and industry insiders. Last year, LA Tourism executive director Doane Liu revealed that E3 brought in an injection of $83.4 million to the city’s economy, with much of it coming from hotel rooms where the city collects tax revenue. Around 30,000 hotel room nights are typically booked each year for E3 attendees.

So with E3’s cancellation in 2024 and another event also canceled that year, the city is facing a sudden deficit of 51,000 hotel rooms. But let’s not forget that E3 wasn’t the only big event for LA. In 2017, E3 generated $75 million for the city, while the Los Angeles Convention Center had a total economic impact of $780 million that year.

And while E3 still wasn’t as big as it was in its heyday, with a record attendance of 70,000 in 2005, it’s clear that it had grown significantly in its final decade. Maybe we’ll see E3 or something like it rise again, or perhaps we’ll shift our focus to shows designed around public attendees like Gamescom and other E3 competitors.

So, farewell E3. You may be gone, but you certainly won’t be forgotten.