E3 2006 Was The Final E3, EVER.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) shindig has been a staple of game industry life since the mid-1990s. However, we understand the larger exhibitors have jointly decided that the costs of the event do not justify the returns, generally measured in media exposure.
Publishers believe the multi-million dollar budgets would be better spent on more company-focused events that bring attention to their own product lines rather than the industry as a whole.
Well placed sources say the news that larger exhibitors were pulling out had prompted urgent meetings among publishing executives. They decided that, without the support of the larger software publishers and hardware manufacturers, there would be no point in continuing.
ESA president Doug Lowenstein will likely announce the news some time within the next 48 hours, possibly on Monday. It’s possible that the ESA will seek to limit the damage by organizing some form of lesser event in May, but it’s clear that the days of an industry event attended by all the major publishers, spending big money, are gone.
Calls to ESA staff are not being returned at present.
Extremely depressing news here. The only thing that makes this not so bad, is that at least E3 2006 was the best one of them all. E3 will always be remembered as a great time, for me anyway. I believe E306 was the exact moment the next-gen war between Microsoft and Sony shifted tides.
Does anyone else get the feeling that companies like Sony, who aren’t competent enough to compete on the live show floor are the reason for the permenant cancellation of E3? A lot of companies like EA and Sony succeed only due to marketing hype and smoke & mirrors tactics and well…that doesn’t work at E3, which Sony found out at this year’s. It really is a shame that greed and big corporations wanting more and more money for less work once again slap gamers in the face with the termination of the greatest week for gamers worldwide.
Thanks to UNSCleric.com contributor Mike (Twisted) for the heads up on this breaking story.
UPDATE: Joystiq.com is reporting on this story steadily and has a lot more information on this.
July 30th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
It’s good to see a huge tradition that is looked forward to by millions of gaming fanatics be completely disposed of just because it’s too expensive to run nowadays. I think I’m going to skip my family’s Christmas gathering this year — seeing the faces of my relatives just isn’t worth the expenses anymore.
Seriously, if developers are complaining about how they can’t afford to set up exhibitions then maybe they should cut back on some of the things they don’t need (i.e. booth babes, fancy sets, celebrity appearances, etc.) and focus on just their games instead. Maybe the pricing could even be restructured so that smaller developers don’t have to pay as much for a small area as the big guys would.
There are plenty of solutions that don’t end with completely redesigning and relocating E3. But since there’s apparently no more — or very little — profit being made, no one wants to find any alternatives. It’s just easier to dumb everything down than it is to come up with a real response.
July 30th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
This Is Terrible News How Can This Happen, I Was Hopeing That Once In My Life I Could Go To It Once But Alas I Cannot If They Cancel It.
July 30th, 2006 at 9:11 pm
They could have changed it so that you could pay for a pass to see certain developers. IE, you have no interest in Sony, so you pay for a pass that goes everywhere else. This way, those companies/developers that people don’t enjoy or approve of, etc. don’t get equal treatment and therefore stop attending the event or put forth more effort next time. This is a rediculous behind the scenes move from Sony. I’m pretty sure that they are the only ones who didn’t get tons of good news and PR out of E3 this year. Shame really. $$$$$$$$$
July 30th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Just to keep things updated, ArsTechnica is reporting that it is not cancelled, but rather being downsized:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060730-7382.html
July 30th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Although I’m sad to see it go (if it does in fact go away), I’m happy that the ’series finale’ of E3 showed how out-of-touch Sony is and showed the dramatic shift in mindset by MS and Nintendo. MS was still considered by some to ‘not belong’ and a company that ‘couldn’t compete’. I believe E3 06 showed that MS can compete and is the only one with the resources to take on Sony. Even if its just down-sized, I fear that we’ll never see the ‘E3s of days passed’ again…
July 30th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
This is so depressing, E3 was like the greatest week. There was so much news, so many new accesories and games, so much drama……and yet, money-hungry big companies can’t stand that there not getting enough (money). Well at least Microsoft went out with a bang (if this is the last one) and showed Sony how to do it. And with Cleric’s recent qoutes of the week, how can Sony even start to say that MS copies them, that’s ridiculous, especially with “entitlements” (
July 31st, 2006 at 7:41 am
This is the worst news that has hit the gaming industry since the death of Dreamcast. I’m going to have a lot more on this issue in a few hours.
July 31st, 2006 at 10:45 am
I think “scalling” it back some will be what happens, and will do nothing but help. I think it should be a level playing field where only the games matter, not how many lights/celebs ect. you have. I admit E3 is impressive, but its starting to become less and less about the games and more and more about “is mah boof bettur”. I think they should ‘level’ the playing field, give indie developers a reason to innovate and a place to show it (not to be overshadowed by EA or UBI) and see what happens.