We’ve known for a while that 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:E3 is dead, but what that means has only just sunk in. Industry reporter Jeff Grubb recently posted a run down of all the year’s gaming events, and seeing them in black and white demonstrates the scope of what’s to come. There are some caveats - not all of the events are confirmed, and they wouldn’t all have been covered by E3 anyway. But with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Summer Game Fest stepping up as the de facto E3 replacement and yet the decentralised summer schedule still happening, it feels like the end of an era. But are there reasons to be hopeful?E3 is a major instance of the reporter being too close to the story. Almost every write-up about the event’s cancellation is glassy-eyed, reminiscing about nights d♕runk in the LA sunset after the rush of racing from conference hall to conference hall. E3 was the biggest event in the calendar; the biggest publishers were there, the biggest reveals were there, the biggest celebrities were there. But the exper💧ience was not what E3 was about, even ifಞ it was what made it greatE3’s economy was very simple - back when it began, it was the best way to get the press to see your games. Development times used to be much short🏅er, so you could show some levels off in summer then sell the game at Christmas. There were a few grumblings that it came a month or so too early in the year, but generally it worked.
Over time, the event expanded. It opened to the public as well as the press, which meant bigger spectacles. The major studios took huge swa🏅thes of devs and special guests for major reveals, and that helped subsidise the smaller studios, who were basically dum﷽ped in the corner with a rickety lemonade stand.
Recently, the whole thing folded in on itself. Speaking directly to the public is easier than ever with the rise of the internet, and with the model laid out by Nintendo Directs, studios no longer need conf🎃erences. Removing the nostalgia of the LA sunset, there are a few ways to look at this. I still believe it’s important to have the press, both to hold studios to account and so that gamers can look up writing on any given game before they commit. However, removing the barrier between player and studio is always important.
Though the general public could attend E3 in person during its twilight years, it was both ticketed and in✤ a highly expensive city in the middle of summer. Putting it online means it can be accessible to all. And if you do want to go in for the journalism argument, it’s also far more accessible to a wider range of journalists, including those younger and f⛄rom minority groups, whose perspective is crucial to our industry thriving.
It also means the sh🐬ow is cheaper for the studios themselve🔴s to host, and while this may be wishful thinking, you’d hope some of the money that would have gone to floor space and hotels and flights and per diems could instead go towards bonuses for the PR staff behind the scenes. More ability to control their own showcases over reliance on hitting E3’s fixed schedule could also mean less crunch.
Of course, this is looking for the silver lining behind what is already a thick and dark cloud. I have previously written that 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:I think everyone loses if E3 fails, and despite what I have written here, still believe it. E3 was an expensive risk for a lot of smaller studios, but it was a risk that could at least pay off. You can’t win big gambling when they shut down the casino. Sony and Nintendo’s individual showcases will draw a crowd, but even 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Microsoft needs to push 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Starfield to get eyeballs. There’s a collective eye roll that Ubisoft is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:doing its own thing - what chance do indie game publishers have?
Nobody is subsiding the lemonade stand anymore, and what that means is we miss out on lemonade. Some of my favourite games at Gamescom ‘22, the last physical event I attended, were games I knew very little about (or had not heard of at all) before arriving. I’ll still be watching all of the smaller showcases and making notes of interesting titles that may haveꦕ demos, but it will be harder to make time for them, and without a scheduled hands on I’ll miss part of the experience, 🔯which might mean not covering the game at all.
Interviews across the board will also be far less frequent, meaning less chance for players to hear directly from those making their games. Some fans scour interviews for new🎶 reveals, but they’re also important for asking tough questions.
In short, there are some major losses in losing E3. But looking at how many events are comi꧙ng up, I’m hopeful that this year’s summer events can be closer to the fans than ever before, and that some fresh voices get to comment in ways they never would have if it was still all held in one building in downtown Los Angeles. E3’s death is a dark cloud, but it’s always important to look for the rainbow.