E3 2006 Gets 60,000 Attendees

Representatives from the trade body the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), organizers of last week’s E3 game event, have announced that the expo drew 60,000 visitors to the Los Angeles Convention Center. This is an overall figure that is actually reduced from the 70,000 or more E3 attendees of 2005, but intentionally so to remove ineligible or less relevant attendees, according to many reports from the show, and the notable stringency with which entrance rules were enforced. The trade event’s official consumer news website, E3Insider.com, attracted 1.5 consumer visits during the three days of the show – twice that of 2005. The educational conference and workshop program at E3 2006 were reported to be sold out with nearly 2,000 conference attendees. "E3Expo is the one and only venue where all of the world's leading interactive entertainment companies convene to launch the industry's next evolution," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA. "E3Expo remains the most important gathering of interactive entertainment industry professionals on the planet, offering attendees unparalleled networking and business opportunities." E3Expo 2007 is scheduled for May 16-18, 2007, in Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center. A full Gamasutra E3 archive of features, interviews, and news from the 2006 expo is still available, including reports from all the major panels and conferences.