The organizers of The extravagant E3 The Games Conference declared the event dead in 2023. decline In 2019, and after the locking of COVVI-19, the organizers of Software Association entertainment organized another virtual show only in 2021 before shooting.
Now ESA is ready to move on with a new vaguely described event called the Innovation Innovation Conference, nicknamed “Iicon”. Big game developers such as Microsoft,, Nintendo,, Sony Interactive Entertainment,, Electronic arts,, UbisoftAnd others are already confirmed for the show.
But the president and chief executive officer of ESA, Stanley Pierre-Louis, means clearly: “It is not the new E3,” he said to Wired.
Taking place in April 2026 in Las Vegas, Iicon will not be a living room for game announcements, says Pierre-Louis. It will also not be a consumption emission with demos or a forum to talk about the development of games. He says there are already events “that do all these things very well”.
Instead, with Iicon, ESA hopes to fill the gap between the many industries shaped by the progress of video games, cinema and music for health care and education.
“We are proud of the story that we had to welcome E3 and what it did to bring together our industry,” explains Pierre-Louis. “But it is a completely distinct event with a different objective and a different audience.”
The inclusion of Hollywood studios makes sense. Games and Hollywood played a successful marriage, from Super Mario Bros. film. and its success as one of the most profitable animated films of all time, to the HBO adaptation acclaimed by the criticism of The last of us. Crossover with the music industry is also natural, because musicians like Travis Scott and Ariana Grande organized virtual concerts Fortnite.
More opaque is the link between video games and industry such as health care. According to Pierre-Louis, however, they are more connected than you think. “Surgeons learn their job through virtual reality mixes to understand how to make improvements in their skills,” he said. “ADHD and Alzheimer’s disease are now treated through video games, sometimes through prescriptions.”
The organizers have not yet published details on speakers or panels who will appear, but according to Pierre-Louis, the calendar will not resemble those of the shows that have increased to take the place of the E3. “If you look at how interactive entertainment has been used in a number of other areas,” he says, “you can see that it has a big impact even if people do not recognize or celebrate it as much.”
The new event will be “only an invitation”, so interested participants will have to register to attend. This will make room for big names in several industries. “What is missing from the sunset of the E3 is the ability to bring everyone together to summon, while bringing the broader business world,” explains Pierre-Louis.
