E3 2020

[queenzelda]

A lot of people think e3 is still going to happen in some way in an online capacity. Idk myself. But who knows at this point is my thought.

[Moonface]

I don't see what incentive the publishers will have to do their online shows through the ESA. There's nothing they can provide for an online setting not already established. Just look at Nintendo.

[Dragon Lord]

Nothing of value was lost. Now maybe we can just get straight announcements instead of "hey guys watch two hours of our live orchestra, plus random celebrity cameos that no one cares about, for the 5 minutes of reveals we'll end up doing!"

[Moonface]

You mentioning that @Dragon Lord makes me realise that this year the shows might be shorter because there won't be the on-stage antics going on (presumably). It'll be really interesting to see how well some of the conferences hold up when they can't rely on star power moments or utilise the live-audience format like they normally would.

[Moonface]

So rumour has it that the ESA's plans for a digital E3 replacement have fallen through:

Apparently these are some of the partners they were trying to work with but it seems none of them are working out:

[Dragon Lord]

Another thing to mention is that the ESA has stated that instead they are planning to come back in 2021 with a "completely re-imagined" E3.

I have absolutely no faith in them "re-imagining" E3 back into something good. I hope next year most Publishers just tell them nah, we're gonna do our own things and ya'll can continue to sink into obscurity.

[Moonface]

The ESA told PC Gamer today that they're not doing the online event and instead will just share content via their website that publishers put out. I'll be surprised if anyone bothers to go to them unless they somehow get some exclusive stuff to show, which we all know isn't happening.

[Moonface]

Well Nintendo doesn't appear to be aiming for an E3 Direct. Apparently due to the virus some of their projects aren't going to be ready in time, so they might not hold a Direct until the end of the Summer instead.

I think the only reason Sony and Microsoft will have content ready for E3 is because developers will have been working for a while on next gen games, and can showcase what they have without needing a finished product ready just to show what the new consoles can do. Nintendo can't really just show stuff off as freely as that, plus they probably don't want another Metroid 4 or Bayonetta 3 incident where they show projects too early and then problems arise, especially with today's climate.

[Moonface]

Anyone else feel like this summer felt a lot more...uneventful without E3? Even though there's still been announcements it just doesn't feel the same when you can't anticipate a lot of them, and besides the PS5 and XSX events everything just feels more muted.

[Mr EliteL]

Do prefer the set dates we're guaranteed something. At the moment we're just waiting on developers and whoever to drop a date whenever they feel like they're ready. OK, that's the only way they can do that but when we knew for certain when we'll be getting a good chunk of news from multiple areas at once, it was something to look forward to instead of being in the dark.

[ShiraNoMai]

Yeah I think it's the lack of confirmed expectancy that we're just waiting for things arbitrarily, and the pay offs haven't been as impactful, so it makes the wait even less enticing. I believe it's called "variable interval scheduling"; in laymen's terms, it's like going fishing: you'll get a fish every so often, and it might not even be a cool fish, just some measly little carp. The chance of you getting the cool bass is there but you don't know when or even if you'll get it. It sucks.

[queenzelda]

Most people online have been saying E3 was doomed long before 2020 canceled it & without E3 it just shows how much the gaming industry really needs something to announce all the goodies releasing over the year or else there just seems to be silence from developers who are holding their cards close to their vest waiting to show their hand at the last moment & it's kind of annoying.

[Moonface]

I think it doesn't help that everyone was really thrown under the bus this year. Planning for an E3 show suddenly had to be changed for a format that is entirely online, and on top of that studios have to work from home which makes it harder to get vertical slices together. I'd love to see how a summer without E3 would go if it was known in advance and there weren't external factors hindering everyone.

[ShiraNoMai]

Yeah, this is really the worst case scenario for this situation to bloom under. Hoping next year will prove to be a much better case to showcase what this really should be like.