E3 Is Dead and Online Presentations Are the Future

Andrew says: "But in all honesty, if someone has already decided to take time out of their day to watch your press conference, then chances are they’re already fully prepped for a reveal of games, not a dancing panda"

[Garethvk]

I am sure the ESA will have something to say about this. Also much harder to network and evaluate games without a trade show. I have followed several of the online events and they pale when compared with being there, seeing the booths, trying the games hands on, and above all; asking questions.

[neutralgamer1992]

I think ESA was funded by these console makers and publishers so when the console makers stop attending and publishers started doing their own ESA doesn't have much say. I for one liked E3 it felt special having everyone there showing their games. So far none of the digital shows have come even close to making the same impact

playstation event was sony's best attempt and could have grown

[rainslacker]

I think some people think the conferences at these events is the end all be all of what these events are about. That's just not the case. They're the most visible part of these events to the general public, but beyond that, trade shows have their place. Conferences, and releasing trailers or some of these smaller web shows like inside Xbox, or SoP, are great for marketing, but they don't have the same kind of impact on getting the media to know about the game, and ask their specific questions, and get them excited about it so they'll cover it.

There's still a place for the trade shows themselves. This year has been disruptive due to world events, but the trade shows aren't going away, and online presentations are too prone to failure and having a message distorted. Heck, just this past week, MS has come under scrutiny on what should have been an otherwise great event. Instead of people seeing games that are coming, people are focusing on the poor messaging. that can happen at trade shows of course....like the pre-launch Xbox conference at E3 this year....but the press can usually be convinced to relay the message these companies want to send. People still may not accept it, but it is what it is.

@neutral

ESA is an industry wide lobby group that represents every aspect of the gaming industry. They were founded to keep government out of gaming, in response to Jack Thompson and his crusade to ban violent video games.

E3 is just an event they host, which is part of many consumer facing services they provide.

ESA can't force anyone in the industry to do anything. They aren't ineffectual, and they have influence, but they work for the industry. They are not run by the industry though, at least not directly, and can do what they feel is best, and one decision they made last year is the actual reason Sony backed out of E3, and even MS had disappointing words for the ESA decision on E3, although they still planned to attend until things went to sh*t.

E3 gained its stature because it was the first really big event of it's kind, and it played into some things that the industry needed way back in the day. An easier route to journalists(both gaming and regular), which were all print magazines or newspapers back them. A big event where many in the industry would attend so networking could be done in a world where game development was pretty spread out. Providing an outlet for the game companies to directly address the public(which actually came a bit later with the conferences). The last part was never an official part of E3 though, and about all that's changed now is that some publishers are just not spending the money to hold the conference. Many that have attended E3 were still going to do so.

[monkey602]

I agree with everything said in this. E3 had its day in it's old format. It was great but the world has evolved and so should the event.

Long drawn out stage demonstrations and fluff to pad out the show need to be gone. Direct to device presentations can be every bit as good if they're done right. Going forward developers could release demos on services simultaneously to give the world audience the same excitement.

It has the added bonus of one more reason self proclaimed journalists are becoming redundant.

[ElementX]

The writer of this article doesn't seem to know that E3 wasn't started as a public spectacle. It was where publisher reps could meet with developers from around the world. It was where hardware manufacturers could show their wares to businesses that sell gaming products. Journalists could sit down and interview people in person, as opposed to on the phone or through email. These things still need to happen. Talking with somebody in person and seeing something firsthand is better than watching a presentation or having a video call. You have people from all over the world meeting and forming business relationships, something that isn't possible with a streaming event.

E3 is more than announcements, something this article fails to recognize.

[rainslacker]

True, but the ESA wanted E3 to be more about the public attention, and wanted to focus in primarily on influencers.

Nowadays, E3 is too expensive for the devs that need an event like this to get in contact with publishers. GDC conferences are generally a better place to do that, or there are easier and quicker ways. It's rare you'd see some indie dev fishing for a publisher at E3 nowadays.

Publishers and other devs don't really need these conferences to network anymore. The internet provides numerous outlets which are more efficient. Hell, I probably could get in touch with every single dev and publisher, and everyone who works within that is relevant enough for me to need to get in touch with using all of three dev/industry networks that exist out there. If not directly, then within one or two levels of contact.

I agree that doing demos in person, and especially having a rep there to tell you what is their unique selling points(most important for the media) is something that's hard to do at scale without a conference. Single interviews aren't usually efficient for such things, although they're not so bad for some things, like console info like we see going on with digital foundry right now. In that case, it may even be a better way to do it.

E3 will continue on. Those things that happen now at E3 will probably continue to happen. But E3 has changed and adapted over the years to suit the industry and what it's needs are. For the most part at least.

We, as consumers only really see the consumer face of things. That's really all we have exposure to, and typically about all we should care about. I do believe that many have misappropriated the press conferences as what E3 is all about. But for most of us, that is the most relevant part of E3. In this regard, it's not unreasonable to think that said press conferences aren't really necessary anymore, and these digital events can be just as productive, and certainly less costly. That's about where I think this article's relevance ends, and unfortunately, because of this, it makes the whole article irrelevant, because they're focusing in on too narrow a view of what E3, or conferences like it, are all about.

[Kyizen]

Agreed

[TheGamez100]

Id still like to see traditional press conferences though, sure many were all just disappointing and full of cringe but its definitely had many of the best moments in gaming too.

[annoyedgamer]

No conference = no press

This is a win.

[xTonyMontana]

I disagree. E3 is more than just presentations or what we see live streamed, it's an experience. People pay huge sums to attend and I doubt many attendees would agree that it should be online only. What about all the demos etc? I enjoy the Directs and State of Plays as much as the next person but they just can't build the sort of hype from announcements as they can from live stage. I'm from the UK too and I remember when the FF7R remake trailer played, it must have been around 3-4am and I remember it so well because I was losing my shit going crazy and had both my neighbours complain to me about it. That announcement wouldn't be the same if it was in a State of Play imho.

That's the difference though really, Having a huge announcement at live events like that and then them telling the attendees that it will be playable for them that weekend, it's just too exciting to pass up for gamers. I've never been to E3 but I've been to Gamescom and it was one of the best experiences I've had in my life.

[SegaGamer]

"I'm from the UK too and I remember when the FF7R remake trailer played, it must have been around 3-4am and I remember it so well because I was losing my shit going crazy"

I'm also from the UK, Sony's E3 2015 conference was one of my favourite moments in gaming. That conference got better and better. The Last Guardian to get us going, Horizon Zero Dawn was next, then World of Final Fantasy.....then seconds after that trailer was done, they dropped Final Fantasy 7 Remake on everyone. That alone would have been enough, but then we got Shenmue 3 a few minutes later!

It was insane. I said that nothing could ever top that E3 conference when it finished, and I still don't think it ever will. I didn't go to bed until like 8am 😂

[rainslacker]

I was at the PS Experience in a movie theater for that, and it was packed full of people, and everyone went crazy for it. It was an old school megabomb like we used to see at E3 all the time, but nowadays seems to be lost to history. That whole conference was amazing though. Just a huge air of electricity in the theater that it was hard to not get swept up in. I don't usually get emotional about such things, but the FF7R trailer had me cheering. not jumping up and down like some people, but its about the most excitement I've ever shown in public.

[King_Noctis]

Don’t kid yourself. Next year it is coming back, just like every other sports shows, conventions, or media events out there.

[goldwyncq]

I hope not. This summer games fest is just a dragged out E3 which kinda kills the hype.

Better to just get everything all at once in a short period of time.

[Elda]

It definitely is this year & pretty much the following year as well.

[Kabaneri]

I'm gonna miss the cringey concerts and awkward presentations from nervous developers. The best part of E3 was the inevitable memes every year. 2007 Activision E3 with the drunk host was comedy gold.

[Profchaos]

I hope not maybe i'm old school but there's just no excitement to a online presentation compared to even just live streaming E3 and watching people lose it as their favorite games get revealed and surprise titles get announced like seeing how many more systems bethesda can port skyrim to.

It's like live sports vs a recording it's always more fun to watch live.

State of play and inside xbox have their place still but they are not as fun overall.

[Knightofelemia]

Unless companies say ok it costs too much money to put on the shows market the game and demo the game and send staff there that's the only way I see E3 dying. Gamers are going to look forward to E3 when all this COVID19 shit dies ticket sales if anything will spike. Fans love the shows that Sony or Ubisoft put on they get to try out demos of the new games before it drops on a digital store and brag about it to their friends. E3 is also a friendly way for companies to have a pissing contest about consoles and between developers and their games. E3 might be scrapped for 2020 but I know I am looking forward to 2021 and see what bombs are getting dropped especially with PS5 and Series X.

[DerfDerf]

No

[angelsx]

i never gonna go to E3 because is too far from where I'm living so it's doesn't matter for me