Highlighting the Industry's Disinterest, EA Exits E3 2016 - The UpStream

Highlighting the Industry's Disinterest, EA Exits E3 2016

posted Sunday Jan 31, 2016 by Scott Ertz

Highlighting the Industry's Disinterest, EA Exits E3 2016

Over the past 5 years, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, has been losing steam in the industry. Activision, Nintendo and others have taken turns skipping the event and, instead, make their announcements off-site. Activision rented a church for their press conference one year, while Nintendo has opted for online-only press events and in-store hands-on demos the past few years.

This year, adding to the list of major industry players skipping the conference is Electronic Arts. Rather than filling their massive show floor presence with dozens of demo stations available to attendees, EA has opted to take over nearby Club Nokia and will instead offer their hands-on demos to fans and press alike at an event they are calling EA Play.

In addition to demos, they will also offer competitions and live streaming for those who will not be in the LA area during E3 2016. They will also have exclusive items available, making their event much more like San Diego Comic-Con or PAX than the increasingly uninteresting E3. They will also be hosting a sister event in London on the first day of the event, June 12th.

The good news is that, despite not participating in the show, they will still be hosting a press conference live from EA Play. This means we will still get the spectacle that is EA's new products. We can also expect to see a bigger on-stage presence during Microsoft's and Sony's press conferences.

I believe that this is the beginning of an exodus from the conference, whose management has turned off exhibitors and press, leaving everyone looking for a better alternative. Hopefully in the next few years, we will have an industry event that is run properly and does not alienate everyone involved.

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