When a couple big publishers said they were doing their own thing or not having their usual booth on the floor and opting for meetings only, doom and gloom predictions followed. I said many times on radio and online that this was not that big a deal and E3 will do just fine. Well the ESA has posted an update that says E3 2016 set records.
E3 2016 Showcases More Than 2,300 Products
E3 2016 once again delivered as the premier place to see what’s next in video games,
as more than 250 exhibitors displayed more than 2,300 products for industry
professionals, analysts, journalists and gamers.
Attendees had the chance to see the newest, most anticipated video games such as
Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Dishonored 2 and Battlefield 1, as well as the latest in
virtual reality and updates to the current console generation from Microsoft,
PlayStation and Nintendo.
This year’s event also featured the first-ever fan show, E3 Live. This brand new
event, which ran alongside E3 from June 14-16, offered fans the opportunity to
explore new games and technology, compete in various game competitions and interact
with developers. The event sold out within hours, as 20,000 fans from more than 100
countries enjoyed concerts from Steve Aoki, Wiz Khalifa, Big Boi and Empire of the
Sun.
Alongside the new game and product announcements, this year’s event featured the
annual E3 College Game Competition, a game design contest among colleges and
universities with video game development programs. Industry experts awarded top
prize to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and its game Brobot Beatdown
[https://www.brobotbeatdown.com/], a virtual reality Mech combat game where players
pilot giant robots from a virtual cockpit to battle with friends. This was the third
time in four years SCAD has won this prestigious competition.
E3 2016 once again demonstrated the true value of video games in the entertainment
industry, showcasing video games’ evolution through virtual and augmented reality,
mobile technology and new, more advanced consoles.
