Gamernode: News - ESA Officials Offer More Reasons For E3 Downsizing

ESA Officials Offer More Reasons For E3 Downsizing

The shocking news that the E3 annual convention will be pulled back to a much smaller event has had the game industry and gaming public buzzing. The reasoning behind the cut back is due to economics--the game publishers felt that the extreme expense of putting on their displays at E3 was no longer cost effective in providing their games with the necessary payback they once generated-marketing value.

More information has been offered as to the reasoning of why the E3 convention is slated to run on a much smaller scale next year. Simon Jeffrey, president of Sega said at the Ziff Davis 10th Annual Electronics Game Summit that, "The topic had been discussed after E3 for several years now. The show had basically outlived its usefulness."  David Zucker, president of Midway stated, "We could get time with every fan site on the planet but couldn't get a half-hour meeting with Walmart. It's time to do something more professional for the industry."

However, in spite of the planned downsizing of E3, Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America, offered some words of praise for what the convention did for the game industry by saying, "As we evolve the show, we shouldn't lose sight of what it did for us. I'm not sure Nintendo could have gotten that same level of attention without E3."

Zucker, Detoc and Jeffrey, all board members of the ESA, indicated that the E3 show would move from its traditional timeslot of May to July. The new format will concentrate on game industry meetings and conferences and will heavily lack the signature feature of past E3 conventions-live game demos. Jeffrey of Sega flatly stated that, "There will not be a show floor," according to 1Up.

Zucker tried to downplay the worries of industry watchers by saying that E3 was merely going through a transition, and not a cessation. "It's all still very much in the works. All that's really changing is the removal of the trade show floor. E3 has to evolve because our industry has evolved."

Zucker stated the "industry has evolved." Profits for many game companies are now down and are causing them to tighten their budget belts. The multimedia marketing event, which costs exhibitors untold millions to participate in, has now become an extravagance rather than a necessity.

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