EA, Activision-Blizzard, Wargaming and now Disney have all decided to forego this year's E3 convention. Rather than take a booth inside the convention hall, all are giving up floor space to run their own press events and / or fan events during the same time frame.
According to VentureBeat.com, much of the dissatisfaction with in-person trade shows has come at the hands of company fan events, live streaming and other ways to engage communities.
A spokesman for Wargaming, which makes pure digital online PC and console games like World of Tanks, said in an email, “From a company perspective, we’re focusing a large majority of activities on events focused on our players and community. Whether it’s a small group of players or hundreds at one of our player gatherings, they’re our main priority. From a strictly business perspective, E3 just doesn’t fit our current direction. It’s a show that is very centralized on retail product, and as a free-to-play digital download gaming company, we’ve realized that while the show may be a good fit for lots of other publishers and developers, it’s currently not a great fit for us. And, of course, we appreciate all that the ESA does in their legislative efforts and their work to raise and discuss issues surrounding video gaming as an industry, hobby and way of life.”
Read the full article, including the comments from the ESA, by heading to the link above.
April’s Trading Post is Faire and Bright
Cataclysm Classic Hotfixes - 26 March
