The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has moved to quash rampant gossip foretelling the cancellation of next year's Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), outlining a streamlined event aimed at cutting attendee costs and minimising civilian footfall.
As you'll be aware from our news yesterday, various industry sites claimed to have the scoop on a complete cancellation of the event, something that seemed highly unlikely at best. The ESA reacted today, offering the official line on what many expected. E3 will simply shrink from the monster it had become.
“The world of interactive entertainment has changed since E3Expo was created 12 years ago. At that time we were focused on establishing the industry and securing orders for the holiday season,” said Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA. “Over the years, it has become clear that we need a more intimate program, including higher quality, more personal dialogue with the worldwide media, developers, retailers and other key industry audiences.”
The move is clearly aimed at reducing the level of fan interest in the event, perceived as a problem by some, a blessing by many. The fans making the pilgrimage to E3 do add colour to the event and arguably make it the spectacle it has built into. It's also worthy of note that publishers court these fans aggressively, offering freebies and giveaways that would have little to no interest to most professional attendees, most of whom have desks laden with the plastic trimmings of every videogame release.
Lowenstein continued, "E3Expo remains an important event for the industry and we want to keep that sense of excitement and interest, ensuring that the human and financial resources crucial to its success can be deployed productively to create an exciting new format to meet the needs of the industry. The new event ensures that there will be an effective and more efficient way for companies to get information to media, consumers, and others."
We contacted the ESA, today for comment, though had not had an official reply at time of press.