ZOMG!!! NOOOOOO!

On Friday, UK publication MCV reported that the future of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the game industry’s biggest annual trade event, is under discussion by the Entertainment Software Association and major publishers. According to unnamed insiders, many publishers feel that the event has gotten far too big and unwieldy, not to mention costly. “Costs have been getting out of hand. We’re talking double digit millions for some of us,” said an MCV source. “But that’s not just floorspace, of course - it’s build, parties, hotels, flights. Security, particularly, has become a massive cost.

“Today, the plot thickened, as both Next Generation and GameSpot are reporting that the event will no longer exist at all in its current form. Next Generation, currently running the headline “EXCLUSIVE: E3 FINISHED,” claims that the ESA’s Doug Lowenstein will announce within 48 hours that E3 has been cancelled for 2007 and beyond. “The days of an industry event attended by all the major publishers, spending big money, are gone,” reads the article. GameSpot reports that there may be a smaller industry event around the same time as E3, though it will not be held in E3’s traditional home base, the Los Angeles Convention Center. Such an event would support hundreds rather than thousands of attendees, and would be a more subdued preview event rather than a full-blown three-day industry party. GameSpot claims that the ESA will make its announcement tomorrow.

The End of E3 as We Know It? (Updated) - Shacknews

If this turns out to be the end of E3.. it will be a sad sad day indeed. E3 was the balls - out BEST show around. We should have known that with the booth babes being subdued, the end had to be near.*sniff* goodbye E3.. we barely knew ye.

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