Geoff Keighley is perhaps best known as the face of The Game Awards, but he's been hosting the Summer Game Fest showcase for the past few years (in addition to becoming the subject of some of our most transcendent art work).
With this year's show only a few days away, taking place on 8th June, Keighley has commented on the death of E3 and the persistent, pernicious perception that he himself pulled the trigger (repeatedly).
In an interview with VGC, Keighley minced no words, addressing the situation head-on: "I think E3 sort of killed itself in a way. I understand why people say [Summer Game Fest killed E3], but I think if anything, we created Summer Game Fest, and I built Summer Game Fest because I saw the wheels falling off the wagon of E3."
Keighley's history is inexorably linked to E3's own, making the slow-motion murder feel almost poetic in a Shakespearean sense.
Elaborating, Keighley explained that there could have been a reality in which both could have existed, stating: "Everyone we’ve been working with, we’ve been working with for months around Summer Game Fest. So there was a world where Summer Game Fest and E3 would have co-existed, and we had talked a lot to ReedPop [E3 event organiser] about that possibility because they were focused much more on a big trade event and consumer event, and that’s not what we were doing with Summer Game Fest."
On the matter of whether E3 could have ended up competing with Summer Game Fest for game announcements, Keighley says (in part): "I didn’t really see it as competitive – I questioned the viability of what their plan was, but if the industry wanted that and wanted to support that, I think people could have done both. There were some companies toying with the idea of announcing their game with us and then having it consumer-playable at E3."
What do you think of Keighley's role in all of this? Right place, at the right time, or Machiavellian mastermind? Commit the perfect crime in the comments section below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 33
He had the same questionable taste for suits back then in 1995. Weird.
Geoff is somewhat right that E3 never evolved. It's existence is kind of redundant now that games fest and directs and showcases exist. If it wanted to continue existing it needed to do SOMETHING to stand out.
I don't even know what summer game fest is, is that what killed E3? E3 definitely had the better name so I guess, uh, SGF killed it some other way.
Can't say I'm loving the post E3 world so far. For all its failures the proximity of the big players to one another really forced them to up their game. Playstation showcase was a duffer, not sure we're getting anything from Nintendo, and MS.. We'll see. Usually buzzing this time of year, haven't had much excitement this time.
@Max_the_German I'm sure he was wearing sneakers with that suit, as well.
I don't think anyone really thought for a second that Geoff or SGF killed E3.
Hey Geoff, David Byrne from the Talking Heads wants his oversized suit back!
Geoff and Duke Nukem look like literally every couple in the audience at a Kylie concert.
Everything Ends down the line........
@KaijuKaiser As a PC gamer I hope they have the goods, now tears of the kingdom is out this is the first time in 30 years that there's not a single big game coming out I'm looking forward to
@Sequel addendum: I forgot Armored core (sentiment still stands)
E3 thrived as a trade show and died as a consumer games fest. I am glad Keighley saved the summer game show and the game awards at the end of the year. Without it we would only have PlayStation directs. With third parties Dev's going to PlayStation and Microsoft it could end Keighley's shows.
Dang he's 43 he looks a lot older in person 😳 😕 😬 😅
He looked a lot like Duke Nukem when he was 15.
I will always pronounce this guy's surname as "Keef-Lee", not "Kee-Lee".
That's the correct pronunciation of the town in West Yorkshire which his family name is clearly from.
Damn 15 year old Jeff looks like a newly promoted 35 year old car salesman
SGF definitely didn't kill E3 but it did slide in to fill a part of gap left by it's absence. The main reason for E3's demise was self-inflicted wounds due to lack of forward thinking and unwillingness to change with the times (like Blockbuster video), which as a result made major players like Sony and Nintendo step away.
Why would they invest tens of millions to run a show at E3 when they could reach more people, on their own terms for a fraction of the cost. That said I do miss the spectacle of E3, ESPECIALLY those giant well choregraphed Sony conferences with a live orchestra.
Since I was a kid, I have looked forward to E3 like it was christmas. I remember looking at floor maps of which companies had what space. Pictures leaked early of decorations going up. So many game announcements. This was such an exciting event, even just from a distance.
Now there is nothing to fill that hole. I mean, Nintendo Directs and Sony Showcases accomplish the game announcements, but it stinks not having one GUARANTEED time of year when every company is pulling out all the stops.
E3 was simply dealt the same lockdown blow as cinemas when everyone had to default to YouTube for its core content and subsequently realized that, unless you're in the market for the con vibe and/or invited "influencers", this is pretty much the same thing minus all the hassle. But cinemas are recovering since not everyone can afford (and/or bother) to install comparable experience equipment at home; game trailers aren't long enough to highlight the practical difference between a monitor/phone screen and a theater one.
I don't think this will necessarily be the death of E3, seeing as other and much less industry-backed conventions survive to this day. But it may well take them longer to get back on their feet.
Covid killed e3. Once publishers, and devs saw they can just stream their games without the worry of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for booths, and still get good results if not better. That was the nail in the coffin.
Like only two others have said it was COVID (Lockdowns) that killed E3, this was the time E3 should have went digital but they didn't and let others fill that void.
@Sequel were getting a nintendo direct and a microsoft showcase this month dude so and according to rumors will have another sony one later this year so not really sure what you mean
@LordBakemono Can you send me the link or point me in the right direction for the June Nintendo direct? Thx
I miss E3. All these directs, showcases, are all boring compared to what you would see at E3. I understand why it kind of went away but that changes nothing. With E3 they were competing with each other so had this great competition, now they just seem to compete internally with themselves which makes for really boring streaming events.
I think Geoff is a jerk. I don't really know why- I just don't like him!
I mean there were games that had demos to people, we can even have VR experiences of trade shows even these days. E3 had the conferences but kept missing the point on oh people still want booths as if they didn't get the idea and companies would go nah we can announce what we need ourselves without booths and demos there and just offer the demos to youtubers or have their closed/open betas instead if they needed to.
Having summer game fest take over makes sense. I won't deny Geoff does a fair job with pushing for gaming to be as big as it has over the years and may still do so now in many different ways and giving gaming a 'it's cool' about it and news presence and more but at the same time do I think he may have odd moments yes but many people can. I think he does a fine job but I won't deny that some game awards are a bit eh and fixed these days and it's just getting ridiculous who they know in the industry now. Also 2 hours of games I don't care about and trends of games I don't care about is still just that, unconvincing games and none I'm ever going to remember, play or focus on later for many years now. There is being narrow minded yes and there is seeing about 20 games all going for isometric RPGs, zombies and so on no thanks if the first 5 didn't why would I the other 15 or more.
I mean Pax and Gamescom I don't know a lot of what makes them different besides I assume more welcoming fan presence which is something E3 failed in and wanted it to be like it used to be of still media and somewhat fan presence and it being a bit of a mess I assume.
At the very least it was a mix of both. I find it hard to believe Geoff and SGF didn't play a very small part at least.
@Sequel go ask nintendo dude XD
@LordBakemono There is no direct in June
The gaming consumer watching at home killed E3! Online commentary on social media ridiculing every word and announcement over the years turned devs away from presenting and eventually attending. Think about all the times ppl dumped on moments that were meant to shine. I feel like the last straw for SONY was when NaughtyDog did a huge TheLastOfUs Part2 showcase and it got (undeservingly) nothing but hate. And they never did anything that grand again at E3.
@PushButtons
As hard it is to understand sometimes, the vocal idiots online who do nothing but hate, hate, hate on every single game are overwhelmingly the minority. The vast majority of people just see a game, think "neat", buy it and that's the most you hear from them. 99 percent of people aren't having meltdowns over hair physics or the lack of a visible puddle.
I think we need a six-part Netflix Doc on the rise and fall of E3. Sounds like their kind of content.
@gipsojo
As much as I love Geoff and his still child-like wonder for the world of video games, he can come off like the annoying cousin who because you talked to him once about dinosaurs, now thinks you want to talk about dinosaurs all... the... flippin'... time.
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