E3 hailed as a remarkable success

E3 organiser ESA was delighted by this year’s expo after seeing a sharp increase in international attendance.

Exhibitors demanded that ESA attracted more foreign visitors for E3 2010, and the trade body says it has been successful, with a 30 per cent increase in overseas attendees.

The company was also delighted by the level of news that was picked up by the games media.

In terms of getting the news and media out there, E3 was remarkably successful,” said senior director of industry affairs and communications Dan Hewitt.

From a retail perspective we got positive reviews because the format was exactly what they were looking for, the people they wanted to meet and the products they wanted to see were all there.

Every year we do a survey of the exhibitors, retailers and journalists and ask them what they would like to see changed. Last year one of the things we were told is that they wanted to see an increase in international presence.

E3 is widely accepted as the global launch pad for computer and video game news. So we did make a considered effort to increase international presence both with the media and retailers.”

Industry execs told MCV that the show had returned to its former glory, but ESA is keen to stress that the expensive E3 arms race of the past will not be coming back.

We have caps on the size of the booths to make sure costs don’t spiral, so the show doesn’t get too large that the work of the industry can’t get done,” added Hewitt.

I’ve had conversations with a number of different exhibitors and they all feel E3 was exactly the right size and we hit the market on that.

Who won E3? It was the consumer. They are going to see some great entertainment coming to their living rooms.”

E3 2011 will take place between Tuesday, June 7th and Thursday, June 9th.