EA confirms that it will not have an E3 booth again
EA Play show moves to Hollywood Palladium, takes place right before E3 Expo
It would appear that the trend of big publishers hosting their own events will continue in 2017. Last year's E3 show floor was missing booths from the likes of Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Disney and Wargaming. For its part, EA decided it could better serve the fans by hosting its own event next door to E3, and now the publisher has confirmed that EA Play will be making a return for the second year in a row, but it won't be as close to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
EA Play will be held from June 10-12 at the Hollywood Palladium, which is around seven miles away. "Whether in person or online, EA Play 2017 will connect fans around the world to EA's biggest new games through live broadcasts, community content, competitions and more. Those that can attend in Hollywood will experience hands-on gameplay, live entertainment and much more. For anyone joining digitally around the world, EA Play will feature livestreams, deeper looks into EA's upcoming games and experiences, and content from some of the best creators in the community," the company stated in a press release.
Furthermore, a spokesperson confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that EA will indeed be skipping out on having a major E3 presence. "EA Play was such a powerful platform for us last year to connect with our player community. We learned a ton, and we wanted to build on everything we loved about last year's event to make EA Play 2017 even better," EA corporate communications VP John Reseburg said.
"So after an extensive search, we've selected the Hollywood Palladium as a place where we can bring our vision of creativity, content and storytelling to life, and build an even more powerful experience to connect with players, community leaders, media and partners. EA Play 2017 will originate from Hollywood, with more ways for players around the world to connect and experience the excitement."
It'll be interesting to see what the other major publishers do about E3 this year. We'll be sure to keep you posted.