Massive video game trade show to downsize

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The video game industry’s largest annual trade show, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, will be scaled down dramatically next year amid industry desires for a more intimate setting, organizers said Monday.

“This is not a wake or a funeral. It’s about changing E3 to meet the modern needs of the industry,” said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, the trade group that operates the show.

The glitzy three-day extravaganza in May drew about 60,000 attendees and 400 exhibitors spread across 550,000 square feet of exhibit space. It was almost double the size of the inaugural show 12 years ago and had evolved — as have some other large trade shows — into more of a spectacle than an event conducive for dealmaking and meetings.

Details are still being worked out, but some of the known changes are:

•The event will be moved from the Los Angeles Convention Center to a smaller venue yet to be determined, possibly a hotel.

•The usual date in May will be pushed to early July, closer to the holiday season. In recent years, an increasing number of exhibitors were compelled to show off their upcoming products but were unable to present demonstrations that could be played.

•Attendance will be by invitation only. Although the event had always been closed to the general public, almost anyone involved in the industry could previously attend. Attendance is expected in the “thousands” instead of “tens of thousands,” Lowenstein said.

•The number of exhibit booths will also be decreased.