This year was a milestone in several ways, and if there is one element that has marred the tradition on the video game industry’s annual calendar, it is the Covid 19 epidemic. E3, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, PAX … so many important events that could not take place due to the health precautions introduced in 2020. What should give the organizers new habits?
A year without a fair? It is possible
In addition to game releases, which allow the public to mark the marketing data of interest to them with a red cross, a media enthusiast’s calendar is also interrupted by holding various shows throughout the year. Apart from their certain festive character, they also offer the opportunity to find out about the titles that are or will be the news for the current and coming years. Official presentations, press previews, gameplay clips … Trade shows are a gold mine for anyone interested in video games. The current health crisis has logically overcome these demonstrations, which excited a colossal crowd and forced publishers to tailor their communications to their liking.Everyone has decided to set up their own online event to spread the projects that are in their boxes to as many people as possible. What finally convinces you of the “moderate” benefit from the point of view of public communication for the relative interest of exhibitions? Maybe.
If we start from the probable hypothesis that the health crisis in 2021 will continue to be widespread and could continue to undermine any publicly accessible event and, consequently, prohibit the holding of the various exhibitions, the editors can undoubtedly rely on the achievements of 2020, to communicate better and smarter and at a lower cost. For example, if we exclude the entire business area that prevails in relation to E3, Attending such an event costs the publisher a small fortune, which pays a gold price for the smallest square meter to house its booth, and the same goes for high-cost conferences. This also forces him to have his communication calendar dictated by the dates of the event, whereby internally organized live evenings are not subject to any date restrictions other than those set by the publisher itself.
Based on this principle, and even if, for example, E3 tries to keep its event-driven nature in one way or another, the giants of the industry might try to keep the system that was passed in 2021. by increasing the number of small events throughout the year to promote the future of the brand for cheaper and more controlled communication. The big video game show is said to have lost momentum, and the cloth between Sony, whose E32 conference is one of the highlights of the event, and the organizers of the show was already starting to burn, the manufacturer had confirmed that he was walking the aisles of the Convention Center in Los Angeles would not occupy long before the epidemic hit the whole world.
Of course, it’s easy for Electronic Arts, Sony, Microsoft or Ubisoft not to make much of a world event like E3, but that is not the case with more humble studios that could take advantage of the spotlights that were turned to the same spot in a short period of time to come out of the shadows. Since trade shows aren’t just stores or conferences, they are also great ways to see and try out games that otherwise might not have been brought to light. It is more than desirable that centralized demonstrations, whether public or not, can be held so that everyone has the opportunity to express themselves. It remains to be seen in which sauce public events will be devoured in 2021 or not.
