According to one research, E3 is in trouble.
Based on a detailed analysis, the expo is suffering from an identity crisis, a renewal would be needed.
In recent years, it has been felt that while gamescom and its associates are attracting more and more visitors, exhibitors and gaming players, the Los Angeles expo, considered the world’s largest gamer party, can reach fewer and fewer, generating less and less attention since 2017. opened its doors to a wider audience. What was behind this was sought by the public relations firm Evolve, which published a detailed report on its analysis.
One of the company’s staff members, Matt Broitman, said E3 was researched for two main factors: one is the presence of the general public (which started a few years ago and has grown significantly since then), and the other is that a number of larger companies have exited or reduced his presence on the show.
Because of these, the nature of E3 has changed and, like PAX, it has gone from an event focusing on the gaming industry to a much more public exhibition. In 2017, for example, the number of media players at the expo was 3,000, which changed to 1,831 in 2018 and 2024 in 2019, which seems to be a significant decrease even in light of the fact that more stores have been established in the last two years. closed and that podcasts were classified as influncers instead of traditional media.
According to Evolve statistics, 40 percent fewer articles were written about E3 this year than in 2017, and while the number of interviews increased by roughly 5 percent, the number of previews fell by the same amount. About 40% of the 240 games visited at the expo received only a single article or mention within two weeks of the event, and although the presence of influencers increased by 2019 (thanks to YouTube and Mixer), it can be filtered despite the low sample, that they cannot generate adequate coverage for E3 either.
Broitman concluded that E3 was in a rather difficult position due to declining media coverage, increased public presence, easy follow-up of show news from home, and the absence of big names (like Sony, Activision, and EA).
Broitman concludes that as a result of all this, E3 loses its identity and cannot stand out in any category. Too expensive for a public show (like PAX), too crowded and public for a gaming industry-centric event (like GDC or DICE), and too noisy and extensive compared to in-house shows (like Nintendo Direct) and media players, so unable to generate undivided attention.
It would be difficult to predict what the long-term fate of the expo would be, but in the fall, GameDaily.biz aired a couple of internal documents that the Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the exhibition, envisions next year’s E3 as a festival for fans, media and influencers. more visitors would be allowed in and more celebrities would show up.
The 2020 E3 will be held June 9-11 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. What do you think of the expo? Has it changed for better or worse over the years?
