Posted in: Games | Tagged: consumer badges, e3, E3 2017, open to the public, Public access

E3 To Allow General Admission For 2017

E3 has slowly been shifting from an industry-only trade show to more of a convention over the years. Regular attendee passes were available in previous years but very few were offered and they were decently expensive. The new "consumer" badges will be much easier to come by for gamers everywhere.

On the one hand, I've always sort of liked that E3 doesn't have the same attitude as conventions like San Diego Comic Con or even like PAX, but allowing regular people through the doors of the Los Angeles Convention Center has been inevitable. Games reach a wider audience now than they ever did and keeping fans outside the show is just bad business.

So yeah, I'm not going to enjoy having to shove through a massive wall of people to get to interviews and demos, but it can't be worse than NYCC can it?

Gamers looking to attend can try and snag one of the 15,000 tickets that will be available for all three days of the show (June 13-15) at the official E3 site. Early birds will pay $150 for access to the show floor and other events, while the regular price is $250.

Reactions mostly seem to be positive, with the usual grumbles about prices:

https://twitter.com/tapu_cocoa/status/829410898703945729

Gameinformer's take is that E3 is doing this to remain relevant, which is not inaccurate. Meanwhile, twitter user @kawaii_kupo wondered how the press was taking the news:

To which I'll say: the press has handled far worse than 15,000 fans during shows. We may grumble, but we'll still have our free press coffee and deal.

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