The organizers of frolic E3 Event pronunciation game conference die In 2023. Attending the full trade exhibition, full of news was collapse In 2019 and after the Covid-19 course, the organizers at the Entertainment Software Association organized an additional virtual program by 2021 before withdrawing the plug.
Now, ESA is ready to continue with a new event, vaguely described as an interactive innovation conference, dubbed Iicon. Big game developers like MicrosoftThen NintendoThen Interactive entertainment SonyThen Electronic artThen UbisoftAnd more have been confirmed for the program.
But ESA President and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis wanted to clarify something clear: This is not the new E3, he told Wired.
Iicon, which will take place in April 2026 in Las Vegas, will not be a commercial exhibition for game notifications, Pierre-Louis said. It is also not a consumer program with demo or a forum to talk about game development. He said there were events that did all that were very good.
Instead, with Iicon, ESA hopes to narrow the gap between many industries shaped by advances in video games, from movies and music to health and education.
We are proud of the history we have organized E3 and what it has done to combine our industry, according to Mr. Pier Pierre-Louis. However, this is a completely different event with another purpose and another object.
The included Hollywood Studios is meaningful. Game and Hollywood have enjoyed a successful marriage, from Movie Super Mario Bros. And its achievement is one of the most revenue cartoons of all time, for HBO's adaptation to be highly appreciated. Our last person. The intersection of the music industry also feels natural, because musicians like Travis Scott and Ariana Grande have organized virtual concerts in Fortnite.
More opaque is the relationship between video games and an industry such as health care. However, according to Pierre-Louis, they connect more than you think. The surgeons are studying their transactions through VR actually mixed to understand how to improve their skills, he said. Currently, ADHD and Alzheimer are being treated through video games, sometimes through prescriptions.
Organizers have not published details about speakers or control panels, but according to Pierre-Louis, the schedule will not be the same as the increased programs to occupy the position of E3. If you look at the interactive entertainment that has been used in some other areas, he said, you can see that it has a great impact even when people do not recognize or honor it so much.
Iicon, will only be the invitation, so the interested participants will need to register. This will make room for big names in many industries. What is missing because E3's sunset is the ability to bring people together to summon, and bring the wider business community in, Mr. Pier Pierre-Louis said.