There are only four months until the start ofE3 2020when dozens of major and minor publishers and developers alike converge on the Los Angeles Convention Center to showcase the next big wave of video games. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X kicking off the next generation of console gaming later this holiday season, the annual ESA-run video games convention is going to be a hugely followed event, even though more and more big names in the industry continue to drop out of the event in sequence.
E3 2020will mark the 25th anniversary of the first E3 convention held in California back in 1995. That’s obviously more than enough time for any company or continually run event to go through major changes,but the past few years of E3’s history are especially significant.
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Minor History of E3
The importance of the event to gaming fans has also drastically shifted over time. For the first half of its history, E3 mainly served as one of the biggest trade shows where gaming press from around the globe would come to cover the biggest news in gaming to come out of the event. The dominance of print magazines during the time meant gaming press played an important role in giving out all that new information to fans.
As online streaming evolved over roughly the second half of the convention’s history,E3’s importance to fansgrew exponentially now that anyone could just go online and watch the event live (even though the event itself was still only open to press at the time).
Some dubbed the event, which gets dozens of millions of views annually, to be the Super Bowl of video games at some point. In recent years, though, the absence of major publishers likeEA and Sonyfrom the show have started to give fans and press alike some pause as to how the future of the show will turn out.
Attendance for the event in 2019 has dropped by more than 3,000 people compared to 2018 (from 69,200 to 66,100), even after the ESA decided to let fans purchase tickets for the first time in 2017. The ESA’s contract with the LA Convention Center through 2023 might hinder its ability to grow the event in the near future, so only time can tell whether the ESA will address the issue or not.
Additionally, the ESA’s standing with gaming press took a huge hit in 2019 when the company accidentally released the phone numbers, addresses, and online accounts of more than 2,000 journalists via a public spreadsheet which was available on its website. Although a huge story on its own, theE3 2019 press leakwas just another problem in what seemed to be a growing list of issues with E3.
Other big problems that have made waves online revolve around the continual withdrawal of major publishers from the event. In 2013, Nintendo decided to forgo live press conferences in favor of its pre-recorded Direct presentations, a format that has been greatly successful for the company (although it still maintains a presence on the show floor with elaborate booths that show off the next big Nintendo game every year). There was a recent scare that suggested Nintendo is skipping E3 2020 entirely which would make yet another loss for E3 this year, but theESA confirmed Nintendo’s E3 presenceshortly after.
In 2016, EA removed its presence entirely from the event, opting to host its own show (EA Play) which still occurs during the week of E3. Most notably though, Sony’s absence from E3 2020 will mark the second time in a row it decided to forgo the event entirely. Before 2019, Sony was at every E3 since the first one, so it’s surprising to see it continually be absent, especially with the PS5 on the way.
Most recently, producer of The Game AwardsGeoff Keighley announced that he’s also skipping E3this year. He produces E3 Coliseum, a live program that features interviews of developers on-stage at E3 which has been running side-by-side with the event for the past three years. His absence from the show is yet another void in the event’s repertoire.
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The Bright Side of E3 2020
Although it has a lot going against it, E3 2020 is still shaping up to be one of the most important gaming events of the year. Companies that have been confirmed to make an appearance at the show include the rest of the usual crew - Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Bethesda, and Square Enix. These are the companies that usually have press conferences in the days before the opening of the show floor. Othercompanies confirmed to be at E3 2020in some capacity include Take-Two, Capcom, Sega, Bandai Namco, and WB Games.
WithSony out of Microsoft’s way this summer(albeit Sony will definitely host its own series of events to show off the PS5), the Xbox Series X is going to have a major presence at E3 2020 and is bound to take up the undivided spotlight. In the past, E3 sort of marked the start of console generations as it would often be the first event to feature the biggest new games coming out for whichever upcoming console.
This was especially true in 2013 when the competition between the upcoming PS4 and Xbox One ostensibly made E3 2013 look like a professional wrestling match between Sony and Microsoft. E3 2013 was one of the most memorable in the event’s history because of this. E3 2020, however, is not going to see that level of back and forth between the companies with Sony gone (but again, Sony will host its own events for the PS5 throughout the year).
Third party companies at E3 2020 will also be doing some of the heavy lifting for the marketing of the new consoles, including the PS5 which could partially explain why Sony finds its presence at the show unnecessary (it costs millions of dollars to maintain a presence at E3). With companies like Ubisoft likely to show off its own next gen games like the rumored butupcomingAssassin’s Creed Ragnarok,Sony will still ultimately have some kind of presence at E3 2020, albeit in the background this time around.
E3 2020will take place at the LA Convention Center from June 9 to June 11 with press conferences taking place in the days before.
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