E3 Is Dying – And Geoff Keighley Just Delivered the Fatal Blow
Geoff Keighley has just announced that he will not be attending E3 this year for the first time in a quarter of a century. Clearly, something about E3 is just not working.
E3 is running out of time to get its house in order. | Source: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for E3/Entertainment Software Association/AFP
- Geoff Keighley announced that he wouldn’t attend E3 for the first time in 25 years.
- That means he will not be hosting the E3 Coliseum event.
- The expo was already dying. Keighley may have just struck the fatal blow.
Gaming industry figurehead Geoff Keighley announced on Wednesday that he would not attend E3 2020. For the first time in 25 years.
Asked why he didn’t want to attend – or host the E3 Coliseum event – Keighley responded:
Based on what’s been communicated to me about the show, I just don’t feel comfortable participating, it’s no secret that E3 needs to evolve and I have lots of ideas around that, but have decided to take a wait-and-see approach.
This is just one of the numerous signs that E3 as we know it is dying.
E3 2020 Is a Complete Mess
While it is true that E3 “needs to evolve,” there are more problems than obsolescence plaguing the conference.
Last year, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) – which runs the event went – accidentally doxed a couple of thousand people.
You think that they’d have stepped up their security efforts this year, but apparently not. The expo’s website managed to leak itself too early, giving us a pretty good idea about who’s going to be attending. A day before the site was supposed to go live. Not a good sign.
Is it any wonder that Geoff Keighley doesn’t want to go to E3 anymore?
E3 Is a Dying, Out-Dated Event That Isn’t Fit for Modern Gaming
It’s not just that E3 as an event isn’t safe, although it sure seems unsafe. It’s that it doesn’t really need to happen anymore.
Sony stopped participating, and they still manage to do live stream events that show off their games and hardware. More importantly, it hasn’t hurt their sales a single bit.
So why even bother attending? It’s expensive to put on a show that big, and in the digital age, it’s almost entirely pointless.
Almost all of E3’s onetime appeal can be replicated by the companies themselves for a fraction of the cost.
You don’t need a convention to market your products to fans and journalists. All you need is an internet connection and social media accounts.
Unless something changes drastically, E3 doesn’t fit the modern gaming industry anymore. Don’t expect to see Geoff Keighley back anytime soon.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
William Worrall is a professional writer based out of the UK who has been writing about video and tabletop games for over a decade and has covered industry events such as EGX and UKGE. Contact him at [email protected], see his LinkedIn profile here.