With the COVID-19 pandemic causing the cancellation of many major events, some have wondered how the video game industry would fare without E3, one of the industry's biggest physical events. According to a report recently released by a marketing analyst, larger publishers and platform holders did relatively well with their online events and streams.
In a report published by SuperData, a provider of video game market intelligence, principal analyst Carter Rogers spoke about how the industry fared without an E3. Some have wondered if E3 is starting to lose its relevance these days, especially with Sony choosing to opt-out of this year's E3 before the pandemic forced it to be canceled. With E3 2020 shut down, developers and publishers were forced to set up their own decentralized announcement events.
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The report notes that companies forgoing E3 in favor of running their own events aren't unheard of, such as with Blizzcon. The overall consensus with the data is that bigger companies capable of hosting their own events generally do fine on viewership. However, smaller publishers and developers reaching the same amount of viewership and buzz without the proximity of bigger announcements.
Some good examples of this come from Sony and Ubisoft's digital events. Sony was capable of bringing in the views with the announcement of the PlayStation 5, while the Ubisoft Forward 2020 managed to get higher numbers than their E3 2019 broadcast. Part of this came from a leak that hinted at the presence of Far Cry 6, while other viewers likely came for the promise of a free PC copy of Watch Dogs 2. This was all despite the recent controversy involving sexual misconduct allegations about some of their staff.
As for smaller events, such as the PC Gaming Show and independently-created livestream events such as Gurellia Collective, there was a notable drop in viewership. The PC Gaming Show tends to focus on indie and mid-range titles, and the lack of major headliners resulted in them having about half as many viewers compared to last year. Some of the more successful smaller developers are those who partnered up with bigger events so they can be seen by viewers waiting for major announcements. Bugsnax by Young Horses is cited as an example of this due to its presence in Sony's livestream event.
Source: Superdata