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VGC: E3 pushes forward with plans for a digital 2021 event
- Thread starter Theorry
- Start date
On the one hand, last year's 'spread everything out over four months' approach was an utter failure. On the other hand, the ESA is nuts if they think they can convince anyone to part ways with six figures just to allow companies to use the official E3 logo on their stream. Sadly, it looks like we're heading for another four months of Arbitrary Tuesdays.
Doesn't bother me if they're all separated, but they do need to coordinate a little bit so that we don't get repeated information. We don't need the same game presented at three different conferences.
a six figure buy in is a total deal breaker, Big Devs can do a nice video drop with amazing production value for a fraction.
I'm a fan of tradition, but the past 2 years has shown that the E3 hype cycle is artificial and can be replicated by spending much less money and doing things in a more unique way. The idea of wanting a publisher to spend up to $1m to simply be allowed a stage that they could offer you for free on their own terms and with the same content, is bizarre to me.
Well said.Publishers paying six figures to be under the E3 umbrella already makes me assume that most of the publishers will opt out to do their own thing, especially because they've already proven that they can do their own digital event. Just by breaking it down one by one, it makes no sense.
Nintendo? They can announce their own June Direct after being silent (Direct wise) for the past year and people would lose their shit.
Playstation? Playstation can announce their own digital conference or State of Play for June and people would also lose their absolute mind.
Xbox? Xbox has already proven that they can hold their own without being under the "E3 umbrella" and even if they announced the usual expected date for their conference, people would still be hype.
Ubisoft? Ubisoft has proven that they can hold their own with their own digital conference even if their announcements are just alright and we'd still look forward to seeing what's next from Ubisoft.
The point I'm trying to make is that all of the big publishers can do their own digital events without having to buy under the E3 Umbrella, have the dates spread of the conferences be within one week and things would still be fine. It makes no sense for them to buy into E3 just to have all the conferences within 3-4 days.
Last years mess was largely due to everyone being blindsided and adjusting on the fly to the circumstances at hand, so you wound up with e3 content spread over multiple events. That shouldn't be the case for this year as they, hopefully, weren't planning on basing the entirety of their campaign on one marketing event.
I'm totally fine with untethering from e3 and the ESA as a whole and creating something more updated and current.
I'm totally fine with untethering from e3 and the ESA as a whole and creating something more updated and current.
Whatever the fuck IS happening, can we have it nice and tight in a week or so, not months of slow boring crap? We get a years worth of slower announcements every year anyway, the summer needs a BIG BLOWOUT
And that's fine with me. As long as it's the same few days and not spread out over 4 months.
Just wanted to comment on all the posts here about wanting E3 to happen and for Summer Games Fest to be a condensed thing:
I, like most of you, absolutely loved E3 each year. For me, it was the exciting announcements, the Giant Bomb interviews/ commentary, and just that feeling of having one big event to look forward to every year. However, the last 5 years have been a slow death for the show as a whole as publishers have realized just how cost prohibitive the event is and how much more useful it is to just have your own digital showcase. The show floors in 2018 and 2019 were largely vacant and there was a real sense of doom in the air from people who attended. When Sony pulled out, it signaled a bigger change of what E3 would be in the future, if there were a future at all. The ESA has been criticized for years for their high prices and even worse, their handling of personal data.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that regardless of the pandemic, this event was going to die unless there were some sweeping changes made. The idea that the public could come, a la PAX style, was a step in the right direction but the general discourse from people who attended was that the event wasn't fun or worth the price of admission. Now that the pandemic has occurred and we've been forced to do everything online, major publishers have already created ways to provide information digitally that lets them work at their own pace and allows them to deliver their message the way they want it to be delivered without the pressure of a forced time frame.
So yes, I'm bummed that it has come to this but the fact that people are still surprised or excited about this digital event leads me to believe they haven't been paying attention to the inevitable death that was on the horizon. As for Summer Games Fest: Depending on how it is handled this year, it may be a good indication of what our next 5-10 years looks like.
I, like most of you, absolutely loved E3 each year. For me, it was the exciting announcements, the Giant Bomb interviews/ commentary, and just that feeling of having one big event to look forward to every year. However, the last 5 years have been a slow death for the show as a whole as publishers have realized just how cost prohibitive the event is and how much more useful it is to just have your own digital showcase. The show floors in 2018 and 2019 were largely vacant and there was a real sense of doom in the air from people who attended. When Sony pulled out, it signaled a bigger change of what E3 would be in the future, if there were a future at all. The ESA has been criticized for years for their high prices and even worse, their handling of personal data.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that regardless of the pandemic, this event was going to die unless there were some sweeping changes made. The idea that the public could come, a la PAX style, was a step in the right direction but the general discourse from people who attended was that the event wasn't fun or worth the price of admission. Now that the pandemic has occurred and we've been forced to do everything online, major publishers have already created ways to provide information digitally that lets them work at their own pace and allows them to deliver their message the way they want it to be delivered without the pressure of a forced time frame.
So yes, I'm bummed that it has come to this but the fact that people are still surprised or excited about this digital event leads me to believe they haven't been paying attention to the inevitable death that was on the horizon. As for Summer Games Fest: Depending on how it is handled this year, it may be a good indication of what our next 5-10 years looks like.
Why would any major publisher sign onto this when they can host their own digital event for a lower price on their own schedule and have all the attention to themselves for a couple days.
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Of course and the small studios will ask their publishers to put their games there, i dont think ESA pay much atention last year.
last year we cancelled E3 and the people who went "who cares about E3 anymore???" realized that things are fucking boring in gaming without E3
so please, let it happen
so please, let it happen
Yep. And MS is not going to want to have over 100's of thousands of $ just to host a stream.
Summer game fest was super underwhelming, so yes please do something more exciting. I want my week of non stop gaming bombs, not a whole summer of nothing.
If anything Nintendo is probably the most likely to rejoin, considering their complete absence without E3 last year.Publishers paying six figures to be under the E3 umbrella already makes me assume that most of the publishers will opt out to do their own thing, especially because they've already proven that they can do their own digital event. Just by breaking it down one by one, it makes no sense.
Nintendo? They can announce their own June Direct after being silent (Direct wise) for the past year and people would lose their shit.
Playstation? Playstation can announce their own digital conference or State of Play for June and people would also lose their absolute mind.
Xbox? Xbox has already proven that they can hold their own without being under the "E3 umbrella" and even if they announced the usual expected date for their conference, people would still be hype.
Ubisoft? Ubisoft has proven that they can hold their own with their own digital conference even if their announcements are just alright and we'd still look forward to seeing what's next from Ubisoft.
The point I'm trying to make is that all of the big publishers can do their own digital events without having to buy under the E3 Umbrella, have the dates spread of the conferences be within one week and things would still be fine. It makes no sense for them to buy into E3 just to have all the conferences within 3-4 days.
I do like the idea of E3 being a centralized show over the course of a week or so. Summer of Games was just so spread out and disjointed that every thing felt like a slow drop of information.
They can and do, the point of the ESA is organizing everything in that small timeframe.
If the big pubs and companies can do that on their own volition then so be it.
As long as we aren't placed in announcement hell like last year.
E3 is better, but I think companies are going with Geoff. No risk of being overshadowed by the big players, probably no huge payment and Geoff seems to be Sweet talker to this pubs and devs.
People are being way too hash on Summer Games Fest, it was always going to be somewhat of a mess since it was a last minute change that everyone had to make once Covid hit. I'm sure Geoff can make a much tighter show this year now they've got time to prepare for it.
Geoff posted in the other Summer Games Fest thread but here's what he said ( I don't think it's necessary to tag him / quote him):
Hey guys -- All great feedback here, and yes, we are condensing the Summer Game Fest schedule down to less than a month this year. Still working out details. Believe me, I'd like to be able to take a vacation at some point this summer :)
I share the feedback/thoughts around last year. COVID threw off everyone's schedules and plans, but I still thought it was important to do something, especially in a console launch year. One thing I've learned from game developers like Valve is the importance of iteration -- to start experimenting, learn and refine. The ideas of SGF are the future, and we're going to keep building on them. Of course I'm only one piece of the puzzle -- I have to take my cues from the game publishers/developers and what content is ready to show.
One thing I will say: We are still in the middle of a pandemic and wfh conditions. As such, it's taking developers longer than normal to make games. By some estimates productivity is only about 50-60% of what it used to be. So, as we've already seen this year, there are lots of game delays. On a macro level that's coloring the situation of what games will be ready to show and when.
In our mind's eye we'd all love 2 whiz-bang days of dozens of events that capture our hearts, but it's just not in the cards right now. That said I'm working had to find ways to bring everyone together this summer for industry showcases - -and we'll have the gamescom ONL show again in late August too.
Geoff
Hey guys -- All great feedback here, and yes, we are condensing the Summer Game Fest schedule down to less than a month this year. Still working out details. Believe me, I'd like to be able to take a vacation at some point this summer :)
I share the feedback/thoughts around last year. COVID threw off everyone's schedules and plans, but I still thought it was important to do something, especially in a console launch year. One thing I've learned from game developers like Valve is the importance of iteration -- to start experimenting, learn and refine. The ideas of SGF are the future, and we're going to keep building on them. Of course I'm only one piece of the puzzle -- I have to take my cues from the game publishers/developers and what content is ready to show.
One thing I will say: We are still in the middle of a pandemic and wfh conditions. As such, it's taking developers longer than normal to make games. By some estimates productivity is only about 50-60% of what it used to be. So, as we've already seen this year, there are lots of game delays. On a macro level that's coloring the situation of what games will be ready to show and when.
In our mind's eye we'd all love 2 whiz-bang days of dozens of events that capture our hearts, but it's just not in the cards right now. That said I'm working had to find ways to bring everyone together this summer for industry showcases - -and we'll have the gamescom ONL show again in late August too.
Geoff
Im fine with tbis or summer game fest as long as summer game fest is condensed which it sounds like it will be. Lest years just felt like a random stream and not an event. In the end i just want good shows with good announcements
Honestly, it kinda pisses me off at how ignorant and entitled some of these responses are.
Because E3 does massive in numbers and probably significantly more than a developer doing their own digital showcase. E3 can reach a larger crowd of people, and those who might not be interested in the game might check it out versus not even checking into that developer's own digital showcase at all.
Last year proved gaming needs E3, so happy to hear this. Hopefully this is confirmation pubs and studios are saving years worth of announcements for E3 week. Appreciate Geoff trying to collaborate with his Summer of gaming, but it was absolutely dreadful as a consumer.
Because having shitty gaming events in the span of 4 months was better? Lol, never change resetera.
Hope this works out and we get a unified experience. Summer game fest and the scattered shows was not fun or enjoyable imo
Yea move on. There's no reason why any publisher will do this.
im sure individual digital events are cheaper and you get more eyes on your product as opposed to fighting 100's of other pubs
im sure individual digital events are cheaper and you get more eyes on your product as opposed to fighting 100's of other pubs
I dont think the price for vids is going to raise eyebrows for the big pubs, seems like a non-issue. The only concern is leaks. I assume pubs will need assurances that pre-planning doesn't lead to info leaks which invalidate their shows (and the price of ESA services).
E3 for big pubs
Geoffs Summer Fest 21 for smaller pubs.
That actually works out well as im not really interested in the smaller games tbh.
E3 for big pubs
Geoffs Summer Fest 21 for smaller pubs.
That actually works out well as im not really interested in the smaller games tbh.
thats not the point. Why would anyone pay 6 figures when they can put out their own "show" for much cheaper. Also ESA can't protect anyone's information so i won't miss it at all.
I really enjoy all the hype around E3. I enjoy that it's a defined main event on the gaming calendar every year, and that it's so condensed. It'd be fun for it to continue.
But do I think it will? Nope. From the publishers perspective, there really wasn't any downside to skipping it last year. Sales were through the roof. They didn't have to rush to fit things into the ESA's timeline. When they did get around to their own online events, they were able to dominate the news cycle and social media reactions without distractions from anyone else.
I mean, look at Nintendo. They didn't participate in any kind of collaborative event and didn't even have any major releases over the fall and holiday period. So what? Sales were still unbelievable, and any time they wanted to build hype they just dropped a new Direct.
I get that lots of people (myself included) want E3 back, I just haven't heard any compelling arguments why any of this will work.
But do I think it will? Nope. From the publishers perspective, there really wasn't any downside to skipping it last year. Sales were through the roof. They didn't have to rush to fit things into the ESA's timeline. When they did get around to their own online events, they were able to dominate the news cycle and social media reactions without distractions from anyone else.
I mean, look at Nintendo. They didn't participate in any kind of collaborative event and didn't even have any major releases over the fall and holiday period. So what? Sales were still unbelievable, and any time they wanted to build hype they just dropped a new Direct.
I get that lots of people (myself included) want E3 back, I just haven't heard any compelling arguments why any of this will work.
As long as they can coordinate at least somewhat. Otherwise we'll have 4 months of hype-killing mess from last year.
I would actually be interested in watching this simply because I assume all the big publishers will skip this and have their own events. The smaller devs and indie games are my favorite things to see/discover during e3 so if it gave them more of a spotlight I would definitely be interested. Now to see if they decide to embrace the smaller games to have more content or still attempt to be AAA stuff.