page_title: E3
section_title: Return to larger format (2009–2015)
hierarchical_section_title: E3 / History / Return to larger format (2009–2015)
caption_attribution_description: English: E3 Expo 2015 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, California (Photo is of the West Hall) - Photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital
context_page_description: E3, also known as the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishers, hardware and accessory manufacturers use to introduce and advertise upcoming games and game-related merchandise to retailers and to members of the press. E3 includes an exhibition floor for developers, publishers, and manufacturers to showcase titles and products for sale in the upcoming year. Before and during the event, publishers and hardware manufacturers usually hold press conferences to announce new games and products.
  Over time E3 has been considered the largest gaming-expo of the year by importance and impact. Before 2017, E3 was an industry-only event; the ESA required individuals wishing to attend to verify a professional connection to the video game industry. With the rise of streaming media, several of the press conferences were broadcast to the public to increase their visibility. E3 2017 became open to the public for the first time, with 15,000 general-admittance passes for those who wanted to attend.
context_section_description: Responding to the complaints from the previous two years, the ESA announced that E3 2009 would be more open, but capping attendance at about 45,000 and closed to the public, as to achieve a balance between the two extremes. All subsequent E3s have taken place in June of the calendar year at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
  Starting in 2013, some of the major video game companies, particularly Nintendo and Electronic Arts, have opted not to showcase at E3. In Nintendo's case, they have foregone a large keynote presentation and instead have used pre-recorded Nintendo Direct and live video events during the E3 week since 2013 to showcase their new products, though they still run floor booths for hands-on demonstrations. Electronic Arts since 2016, have set up a separate EA Play event in a nearby locale to announce and exhibit their titles, citing the move as a result of the lack of public access to the main E3 show. Other vendors, like Microsoft and Sony have used pre-E3 events to showcase hardware reveals, leaving the E3 event to cover new games for these systems.
  By 2015, traditional video game marketing had been augmented by the use of publicity through word-of-mouth by average gamers, persons not normally part of the "professional" development community. The ESA began to seek ways to allow these people to attend E3 in limited numbers without overwhelming the normal attendees. For E3 2015, 5000 tickets were distributed to vendors to be given to fans to be able to attend the event. That same year also marked the introduction of the "PC Gaming Show", featuring games for personal computers across a range of developers and publishers.
caption: E3 2015 with Uncharted 4: A Thief's End banner
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