E3 not needed? Online events this summer attracted more people than broadcasts at E3 2019
According to a new report from SuperData Research, major publishers have not suffered from a lack of attention this summer in the absence of E3. PlayStation and Ubisoft’s online presentations have received more views this year than similar broadcasts in 2019.
The PlayStation 5 show on June 11 was watched by an average of 1.51 million people, which is much more than the Xbox broadcast at E3 2019. It should be noted that Sony Interactive Entertainment did not attend the show last year and did not plan to do so in 2020. The company said in a statement that it did not see E3 2020 as the right place for “where we are focusing this year. “
SuperData Research highlighted a similar audience trend in the case of Ubisoft Forward on July 12th. The broadcast attracted an average of 1.02 million people, while at E3 2019 the Ubisoft presentation was watched by an average of 0.75 million viewers (60% less). It is worth considering that this time gamers had an incentive to go to the stream – the publisher arranged the distribution of a free copy of Watch Dogs 2 on PC.
However, not all companies have ways to maintain a high level of interest in themselves during the absence of exhibitions. For example, views of the PC Gaming Show, which featured a wide range of indie games and low-budget projects, dropped significantly in 2020 compared to 2019. Since the event was not part of E3, gamers may not have expected to see any interesting announcements at it.
Smaller companies generally benefit from proximity to major announcements at E3, and as such, the lack of an annual show can be felt sharply outside the industry’s main publishers. But in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when everyone was forced to move marketing to the Internet, they have to adapt to new realities. At the same time, Fancensus released a report analyzing the media response to this year’s online events. Analysts concluded: “E3 is no longer needed. “
