From the sounds of it – and thank goodness I spent the whole time in Scotland – E3 2017 was a bit busy. A nightmarish hellscape of bodies crammed in like sardines, queuing for hours to look at some games. Not surprisingly, then, The Entertainment Software Association has announced a significant increase in attendees this year, making it the busiest E3 in over a decade.
Take a gander at our E3 2017 coverage.
This year saw the event swallow up 68,400 souls, a 16,200 increase over E3 2016, and only 1,600 people short of the 70,000 who attended E3 in 2005. Of course, the difference between this E3 and others is that it’s no longer an industry-only affair, with tickets being sold to the public – 15,000 of them.
Paying attendees weren’t the only reason, however. That doesn’t account for the other 1,200 attendees. It’s also contrary to what ESA told Polygon last week, that fewer media passes would be doled out. “You’ll see an increase in the number of people,” Rich Taylor, the ESA’s senior vice president of communication and industry affairs, told Polygon, “but probably not by 15,000 though.”
It was considerably more.