E3 2021: ESA President Stan Pierre-Louis on the Challenges of Going All-Digital and What It Could Mean for E3’s Future
Alex Stedman News Editor, Variety.comOn March 11, 2020, just as COVID-19 lockdown orders were starting to trickle out across the U.S., E3, the annual trade event for the video game industry, was canceled for the first time in its 25-year history. The decision rocked the gaming community — at least for a couple of days, before every other major in-person event that year was canceled.“For a day or two, there were people scratching their heads like ‘Really? You’re gonna cancel E3?’ ” Stan Pierre-Louis, president of the Entertainment Software Association, which organizes and presents E3, remembers in an interview with Variety.