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Games industry host Geoff Keighley has confirmed he will not produce the E3 Coliseum at E3 2020.
First introduced in 2017, the Coliseum show features presentations from “all the major game teams” in the business, as well as industry panels, and exclusive reveals. However, despite developing and presenting the show and being an E3 staple for 25 years, Keighley now says he won’t be “participating in E3” and looks “forward to supporting the industry in other ways and at other events in the future”.
Keighley did not elaborate on why he had declined to produce E3 Coliseum this year.
“For the past 25 years, I have attended every Electronic Entertainment Expo. Covering, hosting, and sharing E3 has been a highlight of my year, not to mention a defining part of my career. I’ve debated what to say about E3 2020,” Keighley said via a statement on Twitter. “While I want to support the developers who will showcase their work, I also need to be open and honest with you, the fans, about precisely what to expect from me.
“I have made the difficult decision to decline to produce E3 Coliseum. For the first time in 25 years, I will not be participating in E3. I look forward to supporting the industry in other ways and at other events in the future.”
I wanted to share some important news about my plans around E3 2020. pic.twitter.com/EhrreKV9oR
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 12, 2020
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) also announced yesterday that despite the withdrawal of Keighley and Sony – which has confirmed it’s not attending for the second consecutive year – “several leading video game companies have already committed to participating in E3 2020, including Xbox, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Bethesda Softworks, SEGA, Capcom, Square Enix, Take-Two Interactive Software, Bandai Namco, and Warner Bros. Games, among others.”
“We are working to make E3 2020 a more interactive and immersive experience with a show floor that will amplify our exhibitors, their innovations, and announcements,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the ESA. “The E3 experience is an industry showcase like no other. It connects media, brands, innovators, and super fans with one another.”
While 200+ exhibitors showed off their latest games at E3 2019 last year – a figure broadly in line with previous years – the expo attracted 3,000 fewer visitors than it did last year, dropping to a little over 66,000 attendees. A press release from the ESA – the trade organisation that runs E3 – also confirmed that E3 generated 3.2 million conversations on Twitter, whilst the live stage presentations that make up E3 Coliseum – which featured talks from Jack Black, Will Wright, Elon Musk, and Todd Howard – generated 1.2 million online viewers.
Consequently, the Entertainment Software Association revealed plans to change E3’s format by rebranding as a “fan, media, and influencer festival” that will invite an additional 10,000 visitors to the show.
The ESA unintentionally published the names, home addresses and phone numbers of more than 2,000 journalists who have attended E3 2019. These details, which have now been removed, appeared in a spreadsheet that was hosted on E3’s website – anyone with the link could access it and download it. It wasn’t only journalists whose details were leaked, either, but also “YouTube creators, Wall Street financial analysts at firms like Wedbush and Goldman Sachs, and Tencent employees”.
