E3 Is Officially Permanently Over | Hacker News Reader

E3 Is Officially Permanently Over

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26 pointshaunter11 comments

Last E3 was just horrible so in my opinion I'm glad it's gone, rather than overstay its welcome.

What caused the downfall? I can't tell if it is rose-tinted glasses, but the early 2000s video games and E3 was so exciting.

Enshittification by marketing, and move to internet and social media announcements.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification

Gamescom still exists

Games publishers big enough to have a catalog worth showing off at E3 realized that they would get more focused attention putting up their own show without letting eyeballs leak to their competitors, which is why you'll see Nintendo Directs and Sony State of Play announcements roughly annually.

I think this is the big one.

Rather than compete for attention (and also rush to get a deliverable by E3 rather than taking the time to create something worth showing when ready), big publishers and developers were collectively like "why are we doing this? we can just show stuff off at our own event without spending time, effort, and money showing off something that's not ready? are we doing it just so the attention is on us and not our competition?"

That, and I think letting in fans was a mistake. No matter how cool it would have been as a fan to go to E3 during its heyday, it just wasn't the time nor place for that.

Game marketing no longer happens through magazines and legacy websites, but direct to consumer marketing (companies putting trailers on youtube and holding their own live streams) and influencer marketing (Twitch, Youtube, etc). The closest thing we have to E3 is The Game Awards, which is a 2.5 hour commercial that pays lip service to creators in the industry.

Remember when game announcements were good?

Good announcements, overhyped products or unsubstantial teasers were present both today and 20 years ago.

dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38612779

How are going to get the iconic playstation vs Xbox stock images now?

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