How The Death Of E3 Changes Gaming Forever

Historically, E3 was an industry exclusive event, and the only outside access provided was for journalists.

Realising there was increasing demand for public access, ESA opened the convention doors to the public in 2017 with general-admittance passes but the conference hasn’t truly adapted with it and the modernisation attempt has so far backfired. It's become unclear what they believe E3 should be, an industry-focused affair or a public convention.

Last September, it became news that they were planning to rebrand it as a “fan, media and influencer festival”, an idea met with widespread derision from pretty much everyone.

They've faced wide criticism for lack of clear vision and now Geoff Keighley has expressed similar concerns, saying “Given what has been publicly communicated about plans for E3 2020, I just don’t feel comfortable participating in the show at this time”.

Whilst Keighley's E3 Coliseum only started in 2017, he's attended in differing capacities since 1995 and this position holds a bigger impact as a result. Regardless of what you think of the man, it’s clear that losing a long-standing figure like himself is another big blow for ESA and it's more likely that we'll continue to see the VGAs develop further instead.

He hasn’t ruled out returning though, believing E3 still has a future if its approach changes and this is more than what can be said for Sony right now.