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E3 2019 Wrap-up

From 2019 - In retrospect, it's a little sad that this would be my last time ever attending E3.
E3 2019 Wrap-up
The Xbox E3 stage.

(Originally published on Nov. 19, 2019 on my old Wordpress blog.)

I mentioned before how busy this past summer was – to the point where I totally forgot to write about what I did at E3! But better late than never, right? Even if it is a whopping five months late ...

Once again, I was fortunate enough to cover this year's show with both GamesBeat and Variety. Unfortunately, this was also the last time I'd cover anything for Variety – the powers that be at the popular entertainment website chose to shut down the video game section literally right after E3, sacking its editor along with it (you can see more of my thoughts about that weird situation here).

But E3 itself was a fun, if super busy, time. I took on more than a dozen appointments for both sites, which is the most I've ever had. The meetings involved a good balance of triple-A games and smaller titles that looked or sounded interesting. I was stoked about seeing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Cyberpunk 2077 in particular.

I noticed that this year's E3 wasn't as crowded as in 2018. The ticket-buying public showed up in full force, but the convention floor still felt pretty empty. Part of that had to do with Sony not being there, leaving a huge hole that other companies (lot of them being energy drink brands, strangely enough) tried to fill in.

It didn't work. While parts of South and West Hall were packed, the fringes of the floor were emptier than ever. It makes me wonder if the ESA (the organization that puts on E3 every year) will try harder to bring Sony back next year, or maybe court other publishers to come in. Either way, E3 2020 should at least feel bigger because it'll be the last show before the next big consoles (Xbox's Project Scarlett and PlayStation 5) arrive in the fall.

Posters from the Cyberpunk 2077 booth

E3 2019 also marked the first time I've ever been on a podcast! The GamesBeat staff was kind enough to include me on their daily E3 podcasts, along with a few other cool guests. It was a little nerve-racking at first, but the guys made it easy to jump into the conversation and talk about the games I saw. I'm hoping to do more of that kind of work in the future.

Here are the links to all my E3 stories:

Published by:

Giancarlo Valdes

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