Except in Hollywood this time
Electronic Artspulled out of E3last year and that, along with Activision doing the same, caused a panic. “E3 is dead!” everyone proclaimed in theirspiciest meatballiest takes. How could the most important video game show survive if some of the most important video game makers refused to show up?
E3 2016 came and went and it mostly felt like every other recent E3. EA was E3-adjacent with a large presence just outside the convention center. It seemingly worked out fine because EA has similar plans this year.
There will be another EA Play this year, held from June 10 through June 12. The location is significantly different, though. Instead of staging this in downtown Los Angeles, the event will be in Hollywood. It’s a strange time to move away from the convention considering this is the first year that E3 will allow the public into the show.
EA Play seems like it’ll be the spectacle everyone thinks it’ll be. There will be hands-on demos of the newStar Wars Battlefrontgame, the newNeed for Speed, and the annual iterations ofMadden,NHL,NBA Live, andFIFA. EA says there’s more, alluding to playable builds of unannounced titles.
Anyone who’s interested in attending EA Play would do well to be on alert on 4/20, The Marijuana Day (20/4 for our international audience). Tickets will be available to the public on April 20 at 9am Pacific. EA will detail how that process works sometime in the near future. Keep your head on a swivel if you want a little slice of E3 out in Hollywood.
