E3, As We Know It, Is Gone

For twelve years now, gaming professionals and geeks alike have gathered for a week of electronic entertainment frenzy. The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo has hosted giants and small players alike as companies present their latest game titles and hardware to media, retailers, and colleagues. The event crammed the Los Angeles Convention Center with blazing lights, blaring speakers, bustling crowds, and endless activity — before spilling into flash press conferences and notoriously decadent after-hours parties.

Now, E3 as we’ve known it is a thing of the past.

The Entertainment Software Assocation, which hosts E3 each year, announced today that going forward the Expo will be an "intimate event" rather than a massive trade show, hosting press events and small meetings with media, retailers, and developers. According to Electronic Arts, the redesigned E3 will now take place in July.

The new E3 will still be hosted in Los Angeles, and will still offer game demonstrations. However, the significantly smaller format acknowledges that many companies — especially larger outfits such as Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Microsoft — already host their own showcase events. Additionally, regional events such as the Tokyo Game Show and the Games Convention in Leipzig have lessened the need for what the ESA describes as a single "mega-show."