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FreezingRobot t1_jebusrs wrote

Well that's unfortunate but not surprising. You hear a lot about State of Play or Nintendo Directs, but it seems like they don't want to do big in-person shows anymore.

I remember going to Pax East a decade ago, and everyone who was anyone was there, and getting the three day badge was worth it. Now the show floor is almost entirely tabletop games or indie studios (which is fine!), and there's usually only a few big-name people doing panels. Still a good day trip but not what it was.

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ShawnyMcKnight t1_jec1zqu wrote

It makes sense, they can show their stuff and people will absolutely watch it. They need to spend a little on marketing to let people know about it but as long as they make it relatively the same time every year it's worth it.

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Pie-Otherwise t1_jeemt79 wrote

Keep in mind, renting a space and staffing an event aren't cheap. Most of these companies don't have a presence in Vegas so they are flying in everyone from the interns setting up the booth to the execs that are there to get face time with other rich dudes.

Like every other tech company, they are also looking for ways to save money. If there wasn't a very clear ROI on the event, it isn't going to get approved.

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FreezingRobot t1_jef15c9 wrote

Yea, I used to work for Gartner Events 20 years ago, and it was eye-popping to see the major tech companies drop million dollar contracts with us as soon as the event was announced. Apparently they thought the ROI for that was really good, but I can't see that nowadays.

Another thing about E3 was it was mostly aimed at the press and other tech companies. I think a lot of these exhibitors realized that a lot of gamers generally don't trust the press anymore for reviews and would rather see games first hand or through word of mouth.

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