WILL I SHED A TEAR FOR AN E3-LESS SUMMER? WELL, NO, ACTUALLY.
We’ve an opportunity to look beyond LA and those fortunate enough to attend E3
Last year, I worked my first E3. Rocking my own case of convention flu, I did a Walgreens supply run for a suffering colleague, helped someone else back to their hotel room after one too many, saw some amazing Final Fantasy VII Remake cosplay and, as I waited to play Monster Hunter: World – Iceborne, stood mere feet away from the wrestler Asuka. Drinks, meals, germs, and perhaps too much else were shared.
I’m still nostalgic about vicariously experiencing past E3s from afar as a bairn, of grainy stage demos both amazing and awkward in equal measure, and of a general failure to manage expectations. Before I acquired my professional immunity to hype, I dreamed of what could be possible on next-generation consoles in five years time, in ten years, in virtual reality.
But I’m not sad at the prospect of an E3-less summer – having your details leaked by the ESA will do that.
SUMMERTIME BLUES
Could this summer be a glimpse of a future without E3 in it? If so, the industry loses a networking opportunity that is unparalleled in size and scope; we’d lose that one rare week where industry professionals from around the world are all in the same place and bound by the same experience. Furthermore, we’d lose an event so influential that even your non-gaming grandparents have heard of it.
But over the decades, E3 has become such a massive, bloated thing that you need serious coin to even get a look in as a developer or journalist, let alone a game fan. It’s high time this bubble burst.
I’m not saying solely streamed events should fill the void. If you’re in a work-from-home situation like Team OPM, chances are you’re as sick of video calls as we are and, as much as we love polygons, it’s nice to see an actual human face every once in a while. But events as centralised and unwieldy as E3 are a mistake when you consider the fantastic freelancers and indie devs all around the world. Not everyone can afford air travel to LA, nor should that be the expectation, and it’s high time we highlighted the game community that exists beyond LA. Now is the time to boost your local game community.