No. This is because E3’s importance is no longer the fact it’s a lot of companies all gathering in one place anymore. E3’s actual importance is the calendar date that it was held - mid June. Even if E3 were to go away permanently, we would likely still see large publisher announcements and press conferences happen during the time E3 used to be held, because game publishers still need to market and announce new games.

In order to generate, maintain, and increase player interest in their upcoming games, publishers need to periodically release new information to the public. The goal of this is to build interest steadily in a new game over time, hitting the maximum marketing push just before release. If we don’t release new info often enough, interest falls. If we release too much at once, interest also falls - there’s just too much to follow and players get desensitized. We’ve gotten better results from releasing new bits and pieces periodically - slowly at first, and then increasing the cadence as launch approaches.

You should note that CES is in January, DICE is in February, GDC is in March, E3 is in June, Comic Con is in July, Gamescom and GenCon are August, Tokyo Game Show is in September, Paris Games Week is in November, and the Game Awards are in December. Publishers need a June announcement vehicle. E3 has been the most convenient one so far, but it’s the date of the event that’s far more important today than its name.

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