Jason Schreier Says Nintendo Direct Did Not Kill E3
The piece reframes a common narrative-that Nintendo's shift to its own showcase killed E3-as a misunderstanding, pointing instead to the structural decline of physical retail as the event's true cause of death.
Reporting from 1 sources: Automaton.
Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier released a video arguing that Nintendo's Direct presentations did not cause E3's end. He says the real cause was the decline of retail, which had been E3's core B2B function since the 1990s. E3 held its last online edition in 2021 and was formally terminated in 2023.
Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier released a video on June 11 titled 'The Real Reason E3 Died,' pushing back against the idea that Nintendo Direct killed the trade show. Schreier, who has covered the industry since 2010, called that a 'misunderstanding.' He argued that E3 was originally a B2B event where game makers pitched holiday-season titles to retailers. As digital sales overtook physical retail in the 2010s, that core function eroded. E3 held its last online edition in 2021 and was formally terminated in 2023. Nintendo started its Direct format in 2011, but Schreier said the show still had a major role even after that shift. The real cause, he said, was the decline of retailers, not Nintendo's presentation platform.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.