Geoff Keighley Is Officially Skipping E3

Geoff Keighley, the creator of The Game Awards show who’s also the producer of the E3 Coliseum, will not be a part of E3 2020. Keighley announced his decision to skip this year’s E3 in statements shared this week where he called the choice a “difficult decision.” His absence from E3 2020 will mark the first time in 25 years that he has not attended and been involved with the annual event in some capacity.

Keighley shared a statement from his personal Twitter account about his thoughts behind skipping E3 for the first time in over two decades. He called E3 a “defining part” of his career before saying he’d come to the difficult decision not to attend this year’s event.

“I’ve debated what to say about E3 2020,” Keighley said. “While I want to support the developers who will showcase their work, I also need to be open and honest with you, the fans, about precisely what to expect from me.”

“I have made the difficult decision to decline to produce E3 Coliseum. For the first time in 25 years, I will not be participating in E3.”

Most people will recognize Keighley from his involvement in The Game Awards, the annual event he created where games are awarded different accolades and, more recently, new games, content, and other announcements are seen. Keighley’s E3 Coliseum event featured interviews and other notable moments involving companies and individuals who were featuring their games during E3 each year.

With Keighley out, it’s unclear what’ll happen with E3 Coliseum this year. If it’s still planned for E3 2020, it’ll have to have someone taking Keighley’s spot. Keighley’s announcement comes just a day before the E3 2020 site is supposed to launch since the site currently contains only a placeholder for more details planned to be shared on February 13th, so it shouldn’t be long before we find out what to expect from E3 Coliseum this year.

Keighley’s decision about E3 follows Sony’s big announcement from last month that it wouldn’t be attending E3 2020. The Entertainment Software Association teased new experiences and other improvements for this year’s events, and we’ll presumably know more about those plans this week when the official site goes live.

Photo credit: Charley Gallay / Getty Images