E3 is “full speed ahead,” even though Ubisoft’s CEO hinted it might not be

Earlier on Thursday, comments from Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot had indicated E3 2023 may not take place after all, but the president of ReedPop, the company organizing the event this year, assures The Verge that planning is still moving forward.

According to VGC, during Thursday’s Ubisoft earnings call, Guillemot had said that “if E3 happens, we will be there and we will have a lot of things to show.” That, to me, was somewhat surprising to read: the show was confirmed to return in person in Los Angeles in 2023 last year, but after IGN’s recent report that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are all skipping the event, it didn’t feel outside the realm of possibility that the show may not go on after all.

But E3 is still happening, according to Lance Fensterman, president of ReedPop. “E3 is full speed ahead and we are pleased with the progress and engagement from the community,” Fensterman said in a statement to The Verge. “As we have confirmed exhibitors we are eager to share more as details get cemented and participants ready their own detailed plans.”

Notably, he added that, “in other parts of the ReedPop gaming portfolio we rarely release participants until close to the event but now will adjust our style to the E3 way as we can,” which might mean we hear more about what companies are attending E3 sooner rather than later.

Fensterman also says that ReedPop will be “sending our first round of media and content creator registration approvals” on Friday and that it will “have news to share in the next few weeks on some of the exciting new additions to the Remastered E3 2023.”

Even if Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony won’t be attending the show directly, I’m still hoping we see a lot of exhibitors at the event; perhaps that will bring back some of the E3 magic I remember reading about in video game magazines as a kid.

E3 is set to take place June 13th through 16th in LA. Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest will be returning, too, taking place just a few days before on June 8th. And Microsoft has already promised it will be doing a showcase in LA of some kind this summer.