E3 stays in LA

Brian Ambrozy 30 Jul, 2012 at 1:15pm ET Article published in Gaming

Last Friday, Rich Taylor, Senior VP of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA)—the trade group that puts on E3—said on his Twitter account that he had something to announce on Monday.

Many in the industry were speculating that E3 would be announcing a move to a new city; most particularly New Orleans or Chicago were mentioned in many publications. This buzz came after the ESA said in June that it would consider taking the lucrative trade show elsewhere if the City of Los Angeles could not assure them that construction of a proposed football stadium would not disrupt the show.

To anyone who’s been to E3, the problems are well known: hotel space is limited, the convention is scattered, transportation is a problem, and everything is tremendously expensive in Los Angeles. E3 also happened to coincide with the NHL playoffs this year. The disruption from a massive construction project would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Today the ESA announced, however, that the trade show (which brings in an estimated $40 million in direct spending to Los Angeles’ hospitality industry) will stay for another three years. In return, the construction firm building the stadium has agreed to halt any potential construction during the show (which starts June 10 next year). It may all be moot anyway, since there isn’t even an NFL team that has signed on to play at the proposed stadium yet.

E3 in LA makes sense from an industry perspective, since a large number of game developers and publishers call the Greater Los Angeles area home.

Comments

30 Jul 2012 ~ 2:09pm CB I was hoping it would move someplace else. LA is just about as far from me as it's possible to be while remaining in the continental US. A more central location, especially if it had been in a slightly cheaper city, would have allowed me to be able to go again sometime.
30 Jul 2012 ~ 2:31pm Theironhand If they moved it to Chicago, I'd go to it every year, but LA is just to far.
30 Jul 2012 ~ 4:12pm CrazyJoe I'm with @CB. And I was thinking the same thing as @Theironhand about New Orleans. NOLA is drivable and affordable for me, LA, not so much.
30 Jul 2012 ~ 4:58pm ardichoke Ah yes, but it isn't about where the random pleebs on the 'net want it. It's about where the industry is concentrated. As such, LA makes sense. (Says a guy that would totally go if it were in Chicago but would never go to it in LA, even if he lived in Cali).
30 Jul 2012 ~ 7:41pm Tushon
Ah yes, but it isn't about where the random pleebs on the 'net want it. It's about where the industry is concentrated. As such, LA makes sense.
That is my understanding of it.
30 Jul 2012 ~ 9:47pm CB Actually, for this particular decision, it's more about LA being willing to bend over backward to accommodate them.
31 Jul 2012 ~ 12:14am UPSLynx LA bends over backwards, and the studios wouldn't bother with going to cities further away. It's the same with SIGGRAPH (which is film-centric). It's typically in LA, but the years it was in Boston/New Orleans/Vancouver, attendance by studios was reduced by more than half. It's in LA for a reason.
31 Jul 2012 ~ 12:45am BobbyDigi Cry sum moar n00bz. El Eh is best so xsept it. Dojrs 4 Lif!
31 Jul 2012 ~ 1:12am primesuspect I think what Bobbies are trying to say here is "Deal With It™"
31 Jul 2012 ~ 1:14am Teramona LA's treated me rather awesomely for 26 years.
31 Jul 2012 ~ 2:52am primesuspect It's not about how good or bad LA is. It's about what a pain in the ass it is to go to a gigantic trade show there. I've gone to quite a few trade shows both large and small, from Chicago to Taipei, and E3 LA is always, always the absolute worst to find a hotel for, and transportation costs are sky high. It's not an easy place to go to a gigantic tradeshow. It's more friendly to the exhibitors than it is to the attendees.
31 Jul 2012 ~ 9:45am GHoosdum E3 stopped being about the attendees a long time ago...
31 Jul 2012 ~ 10:06am JBoogaloo
LA bends over backwards, and the studios wouldn't bother with going to cities further away. It's the same with SIGGRAPH (which is film-centric). It's typically in LA, but the years it was in Boston/New Orleans/Vancouver, attendance by studios was reduced by more than half. It's in LA for a reason.
Yeah, this unfortunate reason -
E3 stopped being about the attendees a long time ago....
Siggraph is turning this direction as well. The chapters attendance, events, workshops, etc...(at least in this area) have been awesome and I've learned a great deal from other artists and animators along with making great contacts. But, many don't attend the big one in LA because it's "too expensive, too far, extremely inconvenient and just not worth it anymore..."
31 Jul 2012 ~ 11:45am ardichoke Speaking of conferences, I really want to go to DEFCON. /threadjack
31 Jul 2012 ~ 12:11pm JBoogaloo
Speaking of conferences, I really want to go to DEFCON. /threadjack
LOL, nice =D

Did you happen to read some of the tweets from this year's attendees, participants and performers? Some were quite hilarious!