E3’s newest creative directors resign five weeks into the gig [Updated]

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What shape will the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) take later this year, when it's scheduled to land in Los Angeles starting June 9? That question appears to be more complicated with every month that passes, starting with this week's surprise announcement that the show just lost its latest creative directors.

iam8bit, a gaming merchandise and events company that we've written about at Ars in the past, announced on Thursday that it will no longer serve as E3's creative director. The Twitter post cited "mixed emotions" and claimed that the company had planned "what was to be an evolutionary E3 2020 floor experience." After saying "it was a dream" to work on E3, the post concluded by "wish[ing] the organizers the best of luck."

Curiously, this resignation is the first we've heard that iam8bit was working in a "creative director" capacity for E3. Only five weeks ago, the company's involvement with E3 was announced by its showrunners at the Electronic Software Association (ESA) in a much vaguer manner. "We're collaborating with industry insiders and new creative partners, including the tastemakers at iam8bit, to reinvigorate the show and, frankly, to shake things up," the ESA's January 30 statement said.

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