A Physical E3 Is More Important Than We Realize

The confirmation of E3 2020’s cancellation are exploding all across the Internet right now, and we’re disappointed. Perhaps the event will only disappear for a year and bounce back in 2021 but, of course, we have no way of knowing what the future will bring.

There’s also been a lot of chatter about how E3 has lost its relevance in recent years as it has moved from being strictly a trade show to more of a fan show/press event hybrid. It’s completely reasonable to say that we don’t need an E3 anymore in some ways, but the importance of the event to gaming industry cannot be understated.

We believe E3, or something similar to it, is important and we don’t want to live in a world where E3 doesn’t exist in any capacity.

Let’s take a look at considerations on why we still need a physical E3 to take place.

Previews

You know all of those “We played two hours of ‘insert blockbuster game here’ and here’s what saw” articles that come out every year shortly after E3? Those are mostly all products of behind-closed-doors meetings and previews that happen at or around the expo. It’s nearly impossible to state the importance of these previews for the average consumer, as well as the impact it has on the games journalism industry and the exposure it gives said games. 

Sure, there are other events that exist throughout the year such as the various PAX expos and even Germany’s Gamescom where these previews can take place. Unfortunately there aren’t many of those such events during the Summer when the preview cycles for Fall releases need to go live in order to gain the appropriate momentum to have strong sales showing. 

Some have argued that perhaps publishers and developers might have their own private events where they could even fly journalists in, put them up, and show off their games. Essentially, this is why E3 was born – only the expo was a convenient location where many exhibitors could show up and those who produce content about the demos shown could check them out in a single place without being away from their work stations at various times throughout the year. With individual preview events, it becomes much more difficult to organize and plan for multiple of these types of events for every party involved. 

Another issue with individual preview events is that only the biggest outlets tend to get invited and attend. While this still allows for a large amount of coverage, many of us still rely on smaller podcasts, YouTube channels, and website from which to get our video game related news. Creating multiple events funded by the publishers and developers will skew towards only the channels with the largest viewership, meaning smaller numbers of coverage for games that may really need it. No, Nintendo and Microsoft don’t need E3 to survive or sell games. They’ll be just fine, as evidenced by Sony bowing out of the conference in 2019 and (planning) to be absent in 2020 as well. We need these large events for small and mid-sized publishers to get the attention that they need to be successful and go on producing amazing games. 

Legitimacy

Video games have come a long way, but we still have a way to go to be equal in the eyes of the general public. Gaming is still largely looked at, by the general public, as an amateur hobby for children and man-children living in their mothers’ basements. It doesn’t matter that the video game industry consistently puts up larger numbers than the movie and television industries and yet we still aren’t where we need to be. 

Having an exhibition where all the eyes of the Internet and sometimes even major cable news stations are on our industry in a positive light help bring the rest of the world into ours – a world where video games are a force for good and provide income for thousands of families across the world. We can still have legitimacy in other ways, such as Geoff Keighley’s highly successful The Game Awards show or the popularity of esports and the opportunities they bring to everyone involved. 

Financial

There are gigantic financial implications that we must consider when we’re talking about E3. When it comes to game sales, most of them will be fine. We adapt and change and marketing is infinitely different than it was when the ESA started E3 all those years ago. We’re not talking about that. 

E3 is a major source of revenue for the city of Los Angeles and the people who live and work there. Everyone from the airlines, the tourism segment of Los Angeles itself, the vendors that provide set dressing for the show, the Uber/Lyft drivers that make a killing while the entire industry is in town, and all the way down to the hot sausage vendors that set up outside the convention center to make a living during the show will be impacted by the absence of E3. 

There’s also the consideration that the week surrounding E3 is one of the highest points of traffic that most video game websites will see all year. Many sites, large and small, rely on this traffic and the revenue it brings in to support not only the operating costs of the site itself, but also providing paychecks for their staff. Without these views, which almost definitely put up numbers in the millions, a lot of touch decisions will have to be made inside the walls of these outlets. 

Activism

Though not directly related to the financial considerations, it’s important to remember that the Entertainment Software Association is not only the organization that makes E3 happen, but it’s also the lobbying arm of the gaming industry. Publishers pay a membership fee to the ESA in order for them to be able to afford to go to bat for them. The ESA has helped the industry navigate many issues over the years. Some of these include advocacy with regard to Internet restrictions when it comes to data caps and content restrictions. They help game developers enforce copyright infringement cases and protect their intellectual property. 

The ESA even helped establish the ESRB, a video game rating agency that helps consumers know what kind of content to expect  in the games they purchase. This move was made as a sort of self-policing attempt in order to discourage congress from imposing more strict regulations or ratings on the content in games. 

It’s no secret that the ESA gets a large portion of their income from E3 in addition to the income they receive from member organizations. Without that funding, there is certainly a question of how much advocacy and support the ESA will be able to provide the industry.

Business

There are a lot of visible business deals, mergers, and announcements that take place during E3. Tons of industry professionals gathered in the same place make for a great opportunity to strike deals. These could range from publishers signing new games to studios interviewing and recruiting new employees. Sure, things like this can happen at other events or even over email and telephone. However, we all know there’s nothing quite like working out a business deal over a beer or two. 

Specifically, the cancellation of E3 2020 could be potentially damaging to the industry at large. With the concern and precautions being taken over the spread of COVID-19, the annual Game Developer’s Conference was also cancelled this year. This is another event where lots of moving and shaking happens and a score of games receive funding commitments from developers. Perhaps in future years E3 won’t be as important for these types of deals to occur, so long as GDC continues, but this year it makes for lots of lost opportunities that may not be able to be easily regained. 

Fun and Friendship

I’ve talked a lot about business above, but one of the best parts of E3 is seeing friends you don’t normally see. Employees of game development and publishing companies as well as video game journalism websites move around a lot. The industry is fluid and changes from day to day – much like other industries – but once a year everyone gets to get together and see their old colleagues and friends. Many people rely on the week of E3 to catch up with people they don’t see but once a year – and we all know that getting together with a friend across town, let alone across the country, isn’t as easy as it should be.

Closing Thoughts

I’m not necessarily a fan of what E3 has become in recent years. The glut of Gamer Badges and the thousands of “Industry” passes that are given to every person with an uncle who works at Nintendo don’t make the event as much of a trade show as it used to be. In fact, 2020 was not looking like it would be a great year for E3 with the combination of the strange messaging to date, the departure of major players in years long traditions like E3 Coliseum, and iam8bit dropping their involvement only a short time after announcing it. 

The ESA is not the right organization to be running an event like E3 and they certainly have had made a plethora of mistakes that have changed the conference for the worse. Still, E3 is more important to the video games industry than most people realize, and I’ll be sad to see it go if it does – not only this year, but forever. I don’t want E3 to go away… I want to see it improve and get back to the core of the industry we love. 
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