E3 2018. Schedule, predictions, announcements, discussion (1 Viewer)

[Morgan Jolley]

Every time people would complain about E3, I didn't really understand it. Maybe it was just a huge PITA to travel to LA for 3 days and spend tons of money promoting games? Anyway, I think the stuff that's popped up to replace it (read: YouTube and digital demos) is plenty good.

 

[Steve Y]

This announcement feels anticlimactic because of all the times E3 was announced as "dead," especially over the past few years. It's even hard to take the official announcement seriously.

There's still a demand for an event where people from across the industry can get together and connect in person, but they're going to continue to be in silos, across a wide variety of locations, venues, and organizations. I wouldn't be surprised if, in upcoming years, the Game Awards (TGA) starts developing separate or connected events for this very purpose.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Summer Game Fest is run by Geoff Keighley and is effectively the mid-year TGA event already.

 

[Steve Y]

According to some, SGF and TGA are not viable replacements for E3 (yet), apart or together. This is much what I'm hearing from my contacts in the industry. But none of them have proposed a viable alternative.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I don't really think E3 was necessary anymore. Any studio can toss out a free demo and a 5 minute YouTube video to achieve the same level of attention that they would get at E3, but for a fraction of the cost. And you don't have to do it in the summer at the same time as everyone else.

 

[Steve Y]

Sure. As a consumer and enthusiast, I can get my game news and announcements from anywhere now. E3 isn't needed for studios or publishers to build hype for their games. But as an in-person networking event for industry folks and journalists (and not just the game side), it was unbeatable. None of the events I went to when I was in the industry even came close.

But even that side of the event flagged in recent years, so it was definitely time for it to go. And since I'm just a gamer now, streams give me much more info about new and upcoming games than E3 ever did. And no more long drives to socal.