Yesterday I penned a little blog talking about whether or not I think that E3 has run it's course and needs to be done away with, and this isn't a question that has come out of the blue. There was once an age when E3 was such an eminent force in the industry that everyone had to dance to their tune, but that time has passed and it seems now that plain incompetence on the organiser's part is actively repelling away those who are still willing to give the show a shot. I feel that if this year's show ends up being as disastrous as it is shaping up to be, they'll be a serious question rattling around the community about whether or not this traditional should be upheld. (I was never really one for traditions, so I think you can probably figure on my stance.)
As I touched on last time, the big blunder on everyone's mind presently is the way in which the organisers mismanaged the data entrusted to them and ended up accidentally doxxing hundreds of journalists. Now, at the time there were a lot of tech-heads bemoaning how easy the breech was to take advantage of, claiming that the security of the website was terrible, but I've no personal expertise in that department so I cannot attest to those claims. What I can say, however, is that it's rather galling for an event that is so incredibly strict about credentials at the door to fall on it's face with digital security so spectacularly. As a consequence, there is sure to be a large number of the personally affected seriously weighing options about if they want to open themselves up to that possibility of a breach of privacy again. (No one likes playing roulette with their privacy.)If anyone had managed to fool themselves into thinking that the ESA would manage to get their act together, that illusion was spectacularly shattered earlier last week when the fledgling E3 website domain leaked early. Now I must stress, absolutely nothing private or scandalous was revealed due to this mess-up, it just meant that the public got to see this year's rendition of the press-site. However, this paints the whole operation as a leaky ship that's ready to capsize at any moment, so why would any sane person jump aboard? The way I see it, anyone who isn't literally contractually obligated to attend should really consider staying home and watching this E3 online. (You might miss out on the 'experience', but you also won't have your personal phone number floating around the Internet.) As innocuous as this screw up might seem, there are some who believe that this was the proverbial straw that broke the back of Geoff Keighley
When I ended my TGA coverage I didn't think I'd be talking about Geoff so soon, but he's a guy who never stays out of the headlines for too long. A rockstar of the industry, if there's one figure who everyone associates with gaming, it's Jeff, and that's likely one of the reasons why he has been selected to host certain E3 press conferences over the years. One might even go so far as to call him 'the face of E3'; so it's a tad concerning to hear him dropping out of their year's show due to "What he now knows." (Way to be as vague as humanely possible, Geoff. I'm sure you're NDA overlords shall be pleased) Just to be clear, we have no official word on why it was that Geoff decided to publicly announce his departure from the show on Twitter, but he did seem to mention the website mess-up as an inciting factor. But it could be just as true that Keighley just doesn't like the direction that the show is going in.Sony too seemed none to pleased with E3's latest reform choices, and it's not hard to see why. The single biggest standout event of last year, the moment that had everyone talking about E3 for the months to come, was the surprise appearance of Keanu Reeves promoting Cyberpunk 2077, a game in which he partially stars. This shocked everyone in the crowd with pure surprise factor and the fact that Keanu seemed genuinely excited about the game he was taking part in. What we saw on that stage was a genuine moment that the general public really resonated with and so it survived in meme consciousnesses for several months later. E3 didn't understand that, however, as some leaked details regarding the upcoming E3 seems to suggest that the organisers are putting their efforts behind hiring various celebrities for the event. (You almost have to wonder if these people have ever been outside, the lack of understanding is that palpable.)
That is just one of the ways that the ESA seem to be planning to change E3 from a trade show into a veritable circus, with games taking a backseat. They also want to up the availability of show access to the public, and use the recognisable faces who frequent E3 to bring folk through the doors. Additionally, they plan to embark on putting together something called 'Que-terainment' to keep folk occupied during long cues. (That last one isn't so directly detrimental to the spirit of E3, but it does sound like it'll be incredibly embarrassing for all parties involved.) All of these steps work to move E3 away from it's sole purpose, to showcase games, and more into a fan meet-up event like no one wants it to be. (Save that crap for PAX.)
At the very least, all of this does mean that the ESA know that the gaming landscape is shifting and are engaging their heads to try and keep E3 relevant, but it seems that the planning comity are in desperate need of brain cells in order to pull of such a shift. For his part, Geoff Keighley has offered the events that he promoted for the VGAs as a blueprint for what E3 should be doing. By that I'm referring to the way that the VGAs partnered with Steam in order to bring demo's for titles who were nominated, allowing people to play the games they were seeing without having to lug themselves to a convention hall in California during the summer. (Expensive and uncomfortable) And I have to agree with Geoff here, the future of gaming should be trying to expand into everyone's homes in a manor that just isn't possible for any other medium. If the ESA were to recognise and take advantage of that idea, we'd have something exciting to look forward to in the future of E3.
But perhaps it'll take a colossal flop for the E3 organisers to get their heads on straight, and unless there's been a substantial shift in direction since that info dump, (Which is entirely possible, we heard about E3's changes months ago) they could be headed that way. However, when we have giant publishers like Sony and big faces like Keighley jumping ship, it seems like only a matter of time before everyone else follows suit. Then again, perhaps everyone is wrong and uninterested, uninvested celebrities is exactly what E3 needs to rejuvenate itself. (Although somehow I'm supremely doubtful.) Guess we'll know for sure once Ubisoft drags out Billy Ellish to showcase Just Dance 2021. (Mark my words that will happen.)
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