Geoff Keighley doesn’t think he killed E3… but he did
Conference season is finally here, but it's a shame that we don't get to call it E3 season anymore.
The showcase conference was a massive part of video game culture once upon a time, being the place to be each year to see the newest titles and hardware revealed for the very first time.
As the pandemic struck, though, it ground to a halt after dampening interest, and as competitors rose to challenge it, its cancellation for this year has been something of a sad death knell for the icon.
And the lead competition for it doesn't think he's got anything to do with it. Hm.
Geoff Keighley thinks that E3 killed itself
Click to enlargeAs eyes turn to Summer Game Fest to fill in the gaps that E3 left, its host and creator Geoff Keigley doesn't think he has anything to do with the miserable death of E3, despite directly competing with it.
"I think E3 sort of killed itself in a way. I understand why people say [SGF killed E3], but I think if anything, we created Summer Game Fest, and I built Summer Game Fest because I saw the wheels falling off the wagon of E3," Keighley says to VGC.
"As someone who loves that time of year… for two decades, E3 was part of my life since I was a 15-year-old kid. [From] the first E3 in 1995, I went to every show. I loved it and it defined my summer."
Did Geoff Keighley kill E3?
Click to enlargeIt's a pretty bold statement to make, but as Summer Game Fest made massive efforts to undercut the likes of E3 for reveals, and tweeting promotions for SGF after E3 was cancelled, and while other presentations offer their own reveals, it's hard not to notice the aggressive stance that he has taken with conference season.
He certainly wasn't the leading force in drawing E3 into its grave - we ultimately have the pandemic to thank for that - but there's little doubt that Keighley's intent to bolster Summer Game Fest, even at the behest of other conferences, played a part in the deconstruction of E3's capital on gaming showcases.
A good or bad thing, SGF is coming, and as it has no true competitors, suddenly, it's the top dog. Brilliant or bleak, it's a reality we'll have to accept. That's showbiz, baby.