E3 2018 specifies industry-only hours as public tickets return
Games industry professionals will get early entry to the show floor, Gamer Pass goes on sale next week
The Entertainment Software Association has released new details about E3 2018, showing that while consumers will once again gain entry to the event, industry members will have extra time to explore the floor.
Media and industry professionals will be able to access the show floor three hours ahead of the public on each day, starting at 11am on Tuesday June 12th and 9am for Wednesday June 13th.
The public will be then be allowed to enter at 2pm and 12pm respectively, with the show open to all from 9am to 6pm on Thursday, June 14th.
The goal is to provide industry execs and journalists with "exclusive time on the show floor without cutting short gamers' opportunities to play the most anticipated games of the year," according to the ESA.
Media and industry registration is open now, while the public tickets - or Gamer Pass - will go on sale on Monday, February 12th at 12pm EST. The first 1,000 passes will be $149 each, before the price is upped to $249.
The public tickets were introduced last year - a move actually welcomed by the industry - and quickly sold out. Interestingly, while there was an allocation of only 15,000 tickets for members of the public at E3 2017, today's statement does not mention any such limit.
Presumably there will be a maximum number of tickets as the Los Angeles Convention Center can only hold so many people. The facilities available are already falling short of the ESA's expectations, with the organisation saying it may move E3 away from Los Angeles if improvements are not made by 2020.