E3 2023 books its physical venue, schedule—and confirms new fan-friendly twist - Ars Technica

The event's first two days, dubbed "E3 Business Days," will exclusively host "registered industry personnel," which ReedPOP says will include game makers, distributors, licensors, and press.

In the expo's pre-COVID state, E3 primarily connected game publishers and developers with the industry's logistics side: your Targets, Amazons, and Best Buys, along with global distribution partners, digital services, and other firms that get video games into players' hands one way or another.

Will the attendance split between industry members and public consumers be reflected by a show floor change once E3 Business Days give way to E3 Gamer Days.

Most of all, E3 is defined by the video game developers and publishers who present there, but even before COVID forced the show's physical incarnation to halt, major publishers had begun bowing out of the show to emphasize their own physical and digital events.

Without formal confirmation of participating publishers at this point, we're left reading various industry-event tea leaves.

What's more, Game Awards and Summer Game Fest organizer Geoff Keighley, who was affiliated with some of this year's Gamescom events, is moving forward with a physical version of Summer Game Fest 2023.

As a longtime behind-the-scenes organizer of E3-adjacent events, Keighley may flex his savviness with major game publishers to fill out his own show floor in June 2023—and leave the new version of E3 starved for content.

SGF 2023's dates, venue, and participating game makers are still unknown as of press time, but already, we are anticipating a showdown in one way or another for fans' June 2023 game-preview bandwidth, both online and in person.