The return to the glory days of the E3 Expo has been very well received by the industry, with the ESA announcing that exhibitor space for the June show is already 90% filled.
The Entertainment Software Association continues to regrow after last year’s exodus, with Harvest Moon publisher Natsume casting their lot with the industry trade organisation.
Sorry, but we won’t be playing StarCraft II, Diablo III or World of Warcraft at this year’s E3 expo. Activision will be there, but corporate sibling Blizzard, and its many in-development wares, will not.
The E3 Media and Business Summit is dead. Long live the E3 Expo, which returns to the Los Angeles Convention Centre from June 2nd to 4th next year, with “all qualified computer and video game industry audiences, including international and U.S.-based media, analysts, retailers, developers and business partners” in tow.
It’s a rumour that’s been circling since the E3 Expo wrapped earlier this summer, that the show will return to all of its glory with all new approved access to the public.
The latest word we’ve heard is that the idea has been officially brought forward and is in discussion by the board of the Entertainment Software Association. That means the possibility of an open E3 is one step closer to reality, if the rumour is true.
The question now is, is the move, if it happens, too little, too late? Can anything save E3 at this point or was this year’s event and the across-the-board negative reactions to it the final nail in the show’s coffin?
Sega US boss Simon Jeffery wasn’t the only big name in the industry who felt that this year’s E3 Expo lacked a certain livelihood. Former Microsoft tattoo bearer and current EA Sports head man Peter Moore says that last week’s event was “soulless and lacking an epicenter”. All is not lost though. In a post on his official blog late last night, Moore assures us that the problems can be fixed, and that getting the fans involved is the key.
We’re confident that we can work with the ESA to make this right. There are important meetings ahead that we think will be substantive and be productive in finding the right path forward.
Let’s invite the community. With the right planning, involving our biggest fans in E3 would bring back some of the raw passion the event has lost.
