A few months back it was announced that the E3 Expo that we all came to know and love was being shut down in favor of some lame “media festival” for the privileged few.
Fortunately, “International Data Group, publisher of dozens of tech magazines (including GamePro) and producer of hundreds of trade shows around the world (including Macworld), will produce a new games show to be held in Los Angeles in mid-October 2007.”
That means that the carnival like atmosphere where tens of thousands of pasty faced geeks mingled with industry execs, hot chicks, and the latest games will be back – in a big way.
“According to Michael Krouse, vice president of convention sales for the LA Convention and Visitors Bureau, IDG is estimating that the event will draw 30,000 attendees, and that long term, those numbers could grow. “I am absolutely convinced this show will be as big as [the old] E3.” He also mentioned that the new expo will be endorsed by the ESA (E3) and that the convention will once again be held in the Los Angeles Convention Center on October 18, 19, and 20, 2007.
It will be interesting to see how publishers handle the transition to the GamePro Expo. One of the problems with E3, in their estimation, was that the cost of putting together a presence at the show couldn’t be justified by the amount of press coverage that they received.
Will the GamePro Expo be more subtle or will it evolve into the spectacle of E3s past?
Update: It seems that the GamePro Expo will also be open to the public. If that is true, there is no limits to how big this show can get.
