As the ESA announced this morning on Gamespot, E3 2017 will be open to the public for the first time. Beginning February 13th, 15,000 'consumer' passes will be up for sale at $250 a pop ($150 if purchased early). The consumer pass allows access to the show floor, panels and some still vague Geoff Keighley organized 'gamer events'.

In addition a Polygon article mentions that the ESA is encouraging leading streamers to register for press passes which allow access to closed-door demos and interviews.

Traditionally E3 has been closed to the public though in recent years with the democratization of games coverage we've seen attempts to open up the event or at least extend the definition of 'press' to include media personalities, namely from YouTube and Twitch.tv.

How many of you would be interested in attending this years E3? How do you feel about the cost to attend? Now that E3 has consumers and streamers directly on the floor, do you think we'll see the return of companies like EA and Activision who left in favour of hosting their own events and broadcasting them directly to the public. With almost everything about E3 being beamed directly to any internet connected device, is attending the show in person still relevant?

Since this is the internet we've already got some real reactions only:

Sure, it'd still be great craic altogether. If it were local, I'd be up for it.

I wonder if this move has anything at all to do with certain media outlets/figures condemning violent video games at E3 after last year's American shooting.

As a dude that has gone to E3 for years--starting as a dude with a blog getting press credentials--the pretense that "regular" folk weren't allowed in was only true for a couple years. Even in 2010-2011 when they cracked down on fan sites being allowed in, it was still very clear that anyone that cared enough to get in, could get in.

The only difference is now the ESA is hurting for income at E3. Between some big pullouts from major companies, and having to drop the prices on some booth space, they just aren't where they once were. The Jeffs and Brads of the world will surely complain about the floor being more crowded, but for the work that most press is doing, it really doesn't matter. Last year I never even looked at a single game on the show floor; 90% of my time was spent off of the floor in meeting rooms.

150,000 is a bit much:

For the first time ever, E3 is opening its doors to the public. The Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the event every year, announced today that an allotment of 15,000 tickets will be made available for anyone to buy this coming Monday, February 13.

As for the event: apart from the press conferences (which already are press only), I never saw the need to go onto the show floor. This isn't the old E3, when you could discover small, niche stuff in Kentia Hall. It's 2017: bigger sites have stages that stream their coverage live over the internet.

@gaff: classic extra zero. Thanks for the catch.

Yeah this is mostly in line with what I think. With conventions like PAX bringing pretty much all of the same games around to various parts of the country multiple times a year and keynotes being streamed live I don't see that much of a point in attending E3 personally. To me, something like PAX is far better value for money seeing as it's less about the playing all the latest games and more about the community.

Isn't that quantity of passes going to sell out in like 35 seconds, if the demand for PAX passes is anything to go by?

Is there like one day just for press ? Cause GamesCon without a press pass is literally hell ! just to much people on the floor lines that go out off control even for games like farm simulator etc.

It's probably cheaper, and more fun, to go to PAX. Especially if E3 doesn't do much with their show floor set up. It'll be a lot of line waiting just to play a handful of games.

@bisonhero: Yeah didn't weekend badges for East 2015 sell out in something ridiculous, like 9 minutes? Faster than the site could tell people it was sold out if I recall. If that's any measure these will almost certainly be gone within the hour. I wonder how many additional people the event could handle. 15,000 seems low given how big the LA convention center and that past attendance is somewhere around 50k but I imagine the rest of the attendees might get upset if they let, say 30,000 in. Significantly more people, especially in the first year where its kind of a novelty might make getting around a total dog show, even more than it already it.

I know E3 has changed and it isn't the thing it used to be but I've lived in LA for several years and never was able to go to E3. This is great for me. Especially since I can now take the Expo train straight there.

Sounds like a waking nightmare for the bomb crew and journo outfits, unless they straight up forgo hitting the floor. I see a lot of stuff moving to smaller, nearby venues.

That said I probably will grab a ticket. Going to E3 has been a life goal since a kid, and even though this is basically a different show, I can't count last year's "consumer experience" (those are sneer quotes, to be clear) to be my only E3 memory.

Pay $250 to enter a sea-of-humanity-filled hellscape? Nah, I'm good.

Seems like a good way for them to make money with the bigger publishers going off to do their own thing mostly. Will be interesting to see if e3 starts to develop differently with at least some public access. If I was local I would go, but if I'm going to put out money for a ticket, a flight, and a hotel it's not going to be for e3. I'd rather go to something like blizzcon honestly. E3 is fine to watch online.

I agree. Although I've never been to one, conferences are better if it ain't so busy.

Is it me or is E3 special because of the GiantBomb coverage and not so much the show itself? I just want those dudes to get where they need to go, could not care less about what happens otherwise.

I thought it was open to the public last year?

I don't see the appeal of why anyone would want to go. The floor looks awful. A whole lot of waiting in line to play extremely restricted demos of games in awful conditions. I get the appeal of wanting to be around like-minded people, but surely there are better ways than going to E3.

@oursin_360 said:

E3 had a separate part of the event outside for the public titled E3 Live (where Giant Bomb filmed this fantastic video). Similarly, EA did outside events there (LA) and in London rather than going to E3. The E3 show-floor has never been officially open to the public but many tickets were given away by the event, publishers, and developers to fans such that it looked like the public was let in. Also, many developers/media end up geeking-out at some point at E3 anyway due to it being a parade of Trailers and News (unlike events barring the public such as GDC which focus more on deals and industry talk) leading them to look like fans in videos.

Many people have been saying either E3 needs to be more restrictive and reduce the number of fan-focused give-away stuff, or just open it to the public. With many companies pulling out, I'm not surprised they chose the latter.

Maybe it's just me getting older or maybe it's a sign of the times, but I'd much rather sit in my comfy office chair and watch a GiantBomb livestream of E3 than pay $250 plus travel and hotel to wade through hordes of sweaty nerds and wait in long lines. Don't get me wrong, I liked doing that stuff with a group of people in my mid-20's, but not so much now.