E3 is upon us, fellow gamers… and I, for one, am worried about what will (or more importantly WON’T) be shown this year.
As most of us know, EA is not exhibiting at E3 this year. Instead, they have decided to rent out space at LA Live (now dubbed EA Live) for a 3 day fanfest. With big titles like Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2 and Mass Effect Andromeda coming up you’d expect a powerhouse like EA to have a seat on the showroom floor. It’s nice to see publishers do things for the fans but E3 is primarily for the gaming industry. Well, it used to be anyway. Now it’s starting to look like PAX.
We should see more about Star Wars as well as EA Sports games like Madden, FIFA & NHL 17. With VR being such a big push (and hit) recently our guess is they will make that a part of their presentation.
More and more there are fan-centric events – from parties at night to fanfests that are held offsite. With EA’s departure from the actual expo, though, it begs the question, what does the future hold for E3? EA isn’t the only publisher not at the expo. Activision, Disney Interactive and Wargaming are also absent. Instead they will also produce fanfest events at LA Live. Even Nintendo, who isn’t short on titles, has confirmed the only titel they are actually demonstrating ont he showroom floor will be the new Legend of Zelda game.
E3 coordinators have said these major absences wont have any effect on the overall draw to E3 this year – I think that remains to be seen. When a powerhouse like EA, and even Activision, say “thanks but no thanks” to the biggest showcase of the year you have to be afraid for the future of the event. If I were on the E3 payroll I’d be scared shitless and scrambling to see what needs to change to continue the great expos that have preceded 2016.
But what do I know… I’m just a gamer.
