Update: In a statement sent to PC Gamer, the ESA has confirmed that plans for online E3 2020 event have been cancelled. "Given the disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be presenting an online E3 2020 event in June. Instead, we will be working with exhibitors to promote and showcase individual company announcements including on www.e3expo.com in the coming months," a spokesperson said.
Original Article: Remember when Sony announced that it would not be attending E3 a couple of years ago and everyone acted like the platform holder had lost its collective mind? Seems the Japanese giant was ahead of the curve yet again, because the show’s implosion has been both dramatic and difficult to watch. This year’s convention was shaping up to be a disaster before coronavirus spared its blushes, and while 2021’s showcase has already been dated, rumours are swirling that organiser ESA’s alternative online event scheduled for this summer has been scrapped.
According to journalist Mike Futter, speaking as part of the Virtual Economy Podcast, the ESA made a last-ditch effort to try and woo publishers for some kind of broadcast-based E3-esque showcase. They all politely declined. According to a presentation slide, production partners touted included both IGN and, er, Good Morning America. Really.
https://twitter.com/Futterish/status/1246479813436755969
Perhaps most interesting of all is that IGN recently announced its own summer-based showcase, suggesting perhaps that the website declined the ESA’s invitation and decided to go it alone. While it seems E3 will return next year, we really do think you’re witnessing the beginning of the end here. Publishers will use this year’s cancellation to do their own thing, and getting them back into the E3 fold will be difficult to say the least.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 14
yeah it's over.
besides why would devs spend money on a digital E3 show when the devs can have their own digital showcase.
also more devs would have pulled out after this year's show anyway considering it was gonna be a disaster.
the only ones i could see going on with it are MS because they need the press to stay relevant and maybe ubisoft since their shows are already a cringe fest with influencer appeal.
but to go on with it just for those 2? yeah better off pulling the plug and let devs host their own digital streams on their own terms and hours. (hours that are humane for us european folk)
I have been saying for years that E3 is irrelevant in its current guise. The only purpose it has really nowadays is it kickstarts the run in to the Holiday gaming season and other gaming events of the year but its purpose is redundant.
When it started, Devs, Publishers etc needed to get their yearly plans out to gamers via the press, magazines - because they had NO way of reaching gamers directly. However, the internet has changed that and now they can reach out to gamers when they want. As far as giving 'hands on' to press so they can write previews, again that can be handled over the internet - send them some downloadable demo code, send them a digital press pack - even get them to digitally sign NDA's before they can access the digital info.
Its the same for Devs who want to pitch for funding or a publisher so again, it makes E3 irrelevant. The difference between E3 and Gamescom etc is that Gamescom is for 'gamers' to get early hands on and its more of a convention for gamers - their target audience. Press only events are almost pointless nowadays as they can get their message out to the their target audience directly without having to rely on going through a 'middleman' - the press.
Of course the press still help by reporting the news in online specialist sites, able to give preview hands on and reviews of games - often before launch and that can help build hype - especially for those games with less budget for advertising and/or lacking established fan bases.
Mike Futter blah blah Andrea Rene blah blah this is a huge blow to E3 blah blah
That's what I got from it haha
Edit
Dont be silly. The beginning of the end was when Sony said so a while ago 😉
The beginning of the end was when Nintendo stopped its e3 press conferences.
We now return to the ESA in; “Now it’s Just Getting Sad”
We're in uncharted waters here. It'll be interesting to see how their show in 2021 turns out.
I feel IGN's show this summer should be a good one.
But GMA? Bleh. Probably a good thing THAT didn't come to fruition.
Regardless of still important or not, i just want to know what upcoming Cartoonish Cute Kiddie games in the future i can buy and play.
Don't care with typical 3rd party Western AAA games. Not appetizing for me at all.
For 10 millliiiooonn dollars you can do your stream on our stream!
Um' No Thanks...
ESA is pathetic, but so is IGN...
Don't really know who won there...
the writing has been on the wall for a while now anyway, the current situation just pushed companies into what they were going to end up doing anyway
besides E3 has been the XBOX show for years now, they are the only company that gets the best time slot and the most coverage so now they are all on a level playing field and i prefer it that way
This is the slowest and most gruesome death of all time.
"Given the disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic"
in other words "no one wanted to work with us because they found a better option themselves"
I hope this is another blow to the ESA who support and don't think loot boxes exist
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