E3 details plans for its 2023 return, and they’re intriguing
A new announcement has revealed more about the ESA and ReedPop’s plans for E3 2023, confirming the show’s dates and how it will aim to serve both business needs and the gaming public.
The post, published on GameIndustry.biz by Christopher Dring, ReedPop’s head of games B2B, makes it clear that many details are still being worked out behind the scenes. But this is still our clearest picture yet of what to expect.
E3 2023 will take place from Tuesday, June 13th, through Friday, June 16th. For the first two days, the event will be open only to business and press. The third day, Thursday, will be open to both business and consumers, aka the paying public. The final day, Friday, will be just for consumers.
There will also be a physically split to serve the event’s dual purposes. While there will still be a big, flashy show floor, half of the space will be reserved for business purposes, with quieter booths and dedicated meeting spaces.
In essence, this means E3 will be replicating the basic strategy of Germany’s Gamescom. Speaking for experience, it’s a much saner option for an event that’s open to the public. These decisions may not have an impact on how you consume the announcements coming out of E3, but more publishers may be likely to participate if the event is better organized.
Of course, it’s likely some companies may still choose to skip E3, but the ESA and ReedPop are extending an olive branch to them as well. According to Dring, E3 will offer companies who choose to exhibit outside the convention center a chance to partner with E3 free of charge. That means companies like EA, PlayStation, and Devolver Digital, who’ve chosen to exhibit offsite in the past, can still have their events tracked through the E3 app and schedule press interviews through one central hub.
It’s a little inside baseball, but trust me when I say that should certainly make covering the event much easier. Allowing companies a chance to participate without actually participating is also a smart way to rebuild relationships and keep E3 from splintering further into a bunch of disconnected events.
Dring notes that the organizers still don’t know which companies will choose to exhibit at E3 2023, and that could be make or break. “There’s obviously the big question: Who is going? And this is the stage the team is at,” he wrote. “They are sending out the deck, continuing conversations and getting people signed up. Based on what I’m hearing, I’m optimistic, but the team has to prove that this is a different E3, with a different group behind it that’s committed to doing something genuinely good.
