Xbox boss warns against show overload

Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis believes the collapse of E3 presents the industry an invaluable opportunity to "rethink" the gaming calendar, warning of the dangers of having "too many events that collide with one another".

Speaking in an exclusive interview with sister site Eurogamer TVat the recent Leipzig Games Convention, Lewis, whose firm had a big presence at the German showcase, urged the trade to think seriously about how best to adapt following the demise of May's annual Los Angeles spectacular.

"I can see the logic in terms of the changes that are being proposed [for E3]," said Lewis.

"Without doubt we have to sit down and revise the schedule and think hard about where we want to be and what we want to say about each of those events, because we need to careful we don't run too many events that collide with one another.

"Having said that, it really depends on the variety of announcements we're able to make at each one of those and whether also it suits the different geographies around EMEA, for example.

"So I'm not going to make any decisions at this stage as to whether we'll change our representation or the content at any of those events. But certainly the E3 changes will for good reason force us to sit down and think very hard about the calendar and we will do that."

Leipzig, now firmly established as Europe's leading trade and consumer games event, boasted over 180,000 visitors this year, running from August 24 - 26. But the timing of the convention, just three months after E3, meant the bulk of game demos and presentations were identical to those seen at the US show.

But Microsoft, despite building towards its own pivotal X06 event in Barcelona later this month, used Leipzig as a platform to make the major announcement of next-gen exclusivity for FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer.

"Leipzig's a key milestone on the calendar and also specifically for Europe it's great to have an event and a venue here. Take eastern Europe for instance; a lot of the gamers who are here are from eastern European countries and we're proud to be moving into those geographies in the coming months," Lewis explained.

On X06, Lewis unsurprisingly refused to be drawn on specifics, but promised that the content would live up to expectations. "You're going to hear a lot from us at X06," he added.

"I will say watch this space; I don't want to take any of the goodness out of that event by pre-announcing anything, but I assure you you will be very pleased with that which you hear and I think you'll feel very confident that we have a great deal coming in the next 12 months."

Journalists attempting to cover both the massive Tokyo Games Show and X06, which fall just three days apart in Japan and Spain respectively, however, might suggest that Microsoft itself is contributing to the current calendar overload.

Parts one and two of the exclusive video interview with Chris Lewis are now showing on Eurogamer TV.