Summary
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), best known as the organizer ofE3, has announced a new gaming event called the Interactive Innovation Conference. The first confirmed details of the upcoming event suggest that its concept will be significantly different from that ofE3, at least compared to the trade show’s most recent editions.
The last Electronic Entertainment Expo happened in 2021.ESA reportedly lost millions of dollars on E3 2021, then canceled the subsequent two iterations of the trade show. In December 2023, the Washington, D.C.-based organization announced it had decided to discontinue E3.
14 months afterofficially killing E3, ESA is now back with the announcement of another gaming event—the Interactive Innovation Conference, orIicon(stylized as “iicon”). Much like its moniker suggests, Iicon has been envisioned as a forward-thinking conference where industry professionals can learn from and network with one another. ESA describes it as “a first-of-its-kind event designed to connect visionaries, thought leaders and innovators from across industries,” all with the goal of helping them “harness the power of interactive entertainment.”
Interactive Innovation Conference (iicon) Overview
Iicon Will Be Different From Modern E3s
The invite-only nature of the event makes it significantly different from the modern iterations of E3, which were largely consumer-oriented. At the same time, this exclusivity and the event’s focus on innovation and networking make it reminiscent of the E3’s original concept. Between 1995 and 2016, the Electronic Entertainment Expo was an industry-only event, and its 2017 edition was the first that was open to the public.
A first-of-its-kind event designed to connect visionaries, thought leaders and innovators from across industries to harness the power of interactive entertainment.
As far as game announcements are concerned, that aspect ofE3 was already effectively replaced by Summer Game Festand publisher-specific events—the latter of which ESA cited as the main reason for discontinuing its long-running trade show. However, the Iicon announcement suggests that ESA still sees a place for an industry-focused gaming event.
