Keighley wins: E3 is cancelled permanently

[Kingshango]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/video-games/2023/12/12/e3-permanently-canceled/

“The Electronic Entertainment Expo, which was once the gaming industry's biggest convention and media platform, is officially dead.
"After more than two decades of hosting an event that has served as a central showcase for the U.S. and global video game industry," the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has decided to bring E3 to a close, said Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the nonprofit trade association that represents the games industry's interests in the United States.”

A mix of new competitors, partner withdrawals, changing audience habits and pandemic-era disruptions led to E3's collapse, ending years of attempts to resuscitate the event, which began in 1995.

"We know the entire industry, players and creators alike have a lot of passion for E3. We share that passion," Pierre-Louis said. "We know it's difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it's the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners."

Official message from E3’s site

E3

e3expo.com

Official statement from Keighley:

 

[Jaguar93]

It had a great run many classic moments came from it. Game companies streaming their own shyt basically killed it tho. I don’t see how Geoff won lol.

 

[CEO of Morgan Industries]

TGAs are basically E3, but in the wintertime.

I have to give it to Keighley; the way to save E3 was to just tack an industry awards show onto it to keep companies caring about it as an event. He figured out the equation.

 

[Canon]

been obvious for about a decade

 

[Legal]

It had a great run many classic moments came from it. Game companies streaming their own shyt basically killed it tho. I don’t see how Geoff won lol.

Yeah, E3 dying doesn't necessarily mean that Geoff won. If the major publishers STILL aren't going to get on the same page as him as far as consolidating Summer Game Fest down to less separate streams, then I'd say he didn't win, he just didn't lose.

 

[winb83]

TGAs are basically E3, but in the wintertime.

I have to give it to Keighley; the way to save E3 was to just tack an industry awards show onto it to keep companies caring about it as an event. He figured out the equation.

TGA are not E3. Peak E3 was a gauntlet of pre-shows and an actual trade show with live stage demos of games and a week long feed of impressions. The Big 3 all were there and you got a layout of the holiday season release scheduled into next year.

TGA is mostly a bunch of people sitting in a theater watching game trailers with some awards sprinkled in.

 

[DaylitoJames]

 

[Marks]

Knew E3 was done once they got rid of booth babes and started letting everbody in. Got too big to sustain. Even the most hardcore dudes and journos dont wanna wait 2+ to try some new thing. The way we hype and consume games has changed.

 

[David_TheMan]

Knew E3 was done once they got rid of booth babes and started letting everbody in. Got too big to sustain. Even the most hardcore dudes and journos dont wanna wait 2+ to try some new thing. The way we hype and consume games has changed.

E3 still was strong after they went back on booth babes.
Also they were always lax on credentials, always

 

[SCJoe]

But really fukk them nikkas, I always loved how to gaming press would always be salty that actual consumers would be able to see the show too.

 

[CEO of Morgan Industries]

TGA are not E3. Peak E3 was a gauntlet of pre-shows and an actual trade show with live stage demos of games and a week long feed of impressions. The Big 3 all were there and you got a layout of the holiday season release scheduled into next year.

TGA is mostly a bunch of people sitting in a theater watching game trailers with some awards sprinkled in.

I get your point here, but we're not talking about peak E3. We're talking about slowly dying E3 when it became much less about the live trade show and was trying to figure out how to transition so it could survive.

The way to transition was to become the TGAs - industry awards focused around video games (and other tech since E3 had a broader focus than video games when it started). Go online for viewers, stay in person for industry people.

And truth is TGA is giving a sense of the layout of the release schedule into next year. It's just not doing it with the same prominence as peak E3 did, and why would it? All the major industry players have their own shows. It still gives an important slice of that release schedule, though, in conjunction with the publisher shows. It figured out a niche that E3 couldn't. That's my point.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

I get your point here, but we're not talking about peak E3. We're talking about slowly dying E3 when it became much less about the live trade show and was trying to figure out how to transition so it could survive.

The way to transition was to become the TGAs - industry awards focused around video games (and other tech since E3 had a broader focus than video games when it started). Go online for viewers, stay in person for industry people.

And truth is TGA is giving a sense of the layout of the release schedule into next year. It's just not doing it with the same prominence as peak E3 did, and why would it? All the major industry players have their own shows. It still gives an important slice of that release schedule, though, in conjunction with the publisher shows. It figured out a niche that E3 couldn't. That's my point.

Yep,

Its the final form. Not what it used to be, what it should have become. It would be very bad out here if not for TGA’s/SGF

 

[winb83]

I get your point here, but we're not talking about peak E3. We're talking about slowly dying E3 when it became much less about the live trade show and was trying to figure out how to transition so it could survive.

The way to transition was to become the TGAs - industry awards focused around video games (and other tech since E3 had a broader focus than video games when it started). Go online for viewers, stay in person for industry people.

And truth is TGA is giving a sense of the layout of the release schedule into next year. It's just not doing it with the same prominence as peak E3 did, and why would it? All the major industry players have their own shows. It still gives an important slice of that release schedule, though, in conjunction with the publisher shows. It figured out a niche that E3 couldn't. That's my point.

Then if you want to dumb E3 down to just the showcases in the summer around the same time E3 used to take place companies are still having those showcases like they did during E3.

It wasn't that TGA figured out a niche that E3 couldn't. E3 was expensive and the return on investment wasn't there anymore. Companies had to spend all this money and resources building up to it and in part due to Nintendo companies figured out they could make a cheap inhouse YouTube video and have the same reach with the general public and they didn't need the trade show. When Sony pulled out completely it was a wrap.

The bold, that's what I'm looking forward to the most next year. Not-E3 or Summer Game Fest or whatever you wanna call it that happens in E3 season is the premiere time for game announcements still. The Game Awards is like a desert to that main meal.

 

[Black Magisterialness]

I get your point here, but we're not talking about peak E3. We're talking about slowly dying E3 when it became much less about the live trade show and was trying to figure out how to transition so it could survive.

The way to transition was to become the TGAs - industry awards focused around video games (and other tech since E3 had a broader focus than video games when it started). Go online for viewers, stay in person for industry people.

And truth is TGA is giving a sense of the layout of the release schedule into next year. It's just not doing it with the same prominence as peak E3 did, and why would it? All the major industry players have their own shows. It still gives an important slice of that release schedule, though, in conjunction with the publisher shows. It figured out a niche that E3 couldn't. That's my point.

You're both correct. I've been to multiple E3s and there's some truth to saying Geoff won.

You have to remember it was him leaving ESA's team for E3 that began the exodus. He was upset that they weren't doing more to bring down booth prices and retain the big publishers like EA and Sony within the actual show floor. Because the ESA was so stubborn and also the fact that they opened it up to the public (which in retrospect was a mistake), they lost all their cache. And because Geoff had SO MUCH pull in the industry and so many contacts, it was on natural for him to spin off into his own even, then boom. Covid.

It's almost a relic of an era gone by. And that's sad. The entire games/entertainment press apparatus has eroded only to be replaced by streamers and content creators. So that means the traditional sort of relationships, previews and what not are significantly less effective. I'm not sure even if Geoff was still involved that it would been the same event that it was in the past.

However, NOTHING will replace E3 just like nothing will replace Mr. Rodgers. There's something to be said about the ENTIRE industry converging in one place. The only thing I can compare it to is CES in Vegas. Summer Games Fest and The Game Awards don't have the same panache. There's no Sony vs. Xbox narrative IN PERSON. There's no shock announcement that causes the live audience to explode in awe. There's no "wait this is actually good" hands on reviews from the press. Not to mention the amount of networking, connections and non-content value that E3 had.

The Game Awards is cool, but now that E3 is dead, I'd almost wish for Geoff and the major publishers to come together and create a new event. There's nothing that replaces that in-person element and I'm personally tired of people thinking that streams could EVER replace converging with other gamers in person.

 

[Tetris v2.0]

E3 was always a fun time of year. Regardless of what Geoff has going on, it won't be the same