The ESA’s Digital E3 2021 Cost Over $6 Million

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is currently weighing whether or not to put on future E3-branded events after canceling the show in both 2022 and 2023. And based on its most recent financial statements, it will likely be taking money into serious consideration, after its digital E3 2021 cost at least $6 million to put on.

According to the ESA’s public tax statements for the financial year ending March of 2022, the ESA paid Paragon Creative Agency $3.9 million that year for “Tradeshow Management,” and paid Smithbucklin $584,119 for the same. It also paid Game Cloud Network $1.6 million for its “E3 online platform,” which was notoriously buggy and broken throughout the event. In total, the ESA paid these three contractors alone over $6 million, and it’s possible the organization spent even more, as the filing only lists the five most expensive independent contractors, and does not include spending on E3 2021 before April 2021.

Elsewhere on the balance sheet, the ESA reports it brought in $3.4 million in revenue for “E3 Expo”. In total, the ESA spent $7.3 million on all “conferences, conventions, and meetings” it put on that year, by far the biggest expense in its balance sheet after wages.

Speaking of wages, ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louis made almost $1.5 million that year, up from $1.3 million the previous year, in salary. He also took home an additional $78,579 in other compensation. Patricia Vance, the president of the ESRB, made just over $1 million.

The ESA also brought in $26 million in member dues that year – it’s greatest source of revenue – and $7.8 million in ESRB rating fees. Total revenue for the organization reached $39 million, but after $37 million in expenses, it only made $2 million that year.

Still, it’s an improvement over the previous fiscal year when the ESA suffered a loss of $274,419 following the cancellation of its planned E3 event due to the pandemic. It suffered an even more significant loss in 2019, though, of $2.2 million. 2019 saw the ESA bring in $40 million in revenue, $17 million of it from an in-person E3 and $15.7 million from member dues, but spent $42 million – $11.7 million of which on “conferences, conventions, and meetings”. Previous years 2018 and 2017 both saw the ESA in the black.

IGN has contacted the ESA for comment.

IGN broke the news of E3’s 2023 cancellation after months of speculation and unclear messaging from the organization to its partners. The show was similarly canceled in 2022 after an unenthused digital event in 2021 and the 2020 pandemic-related cancellation. Future E3s appeared to have been canceled by the Los Angeles Convention Center – the typical venue in past years – but the ESA maintains the event is still being considered.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.