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Activision, LucasArts return to E3

Prodigal publishers commit to showing up at this year's revitalized gaming expo as organizers at the ESA release initial exhibitor list.

After experimenting with downsized trade shows for two years, the Entertainment Software Association wants to restore the Electronic Entertainment Expo to its glory days. Today, the ESA announced a slate of exhibitors that will help usher in the newly supersized E3 2009, including a number of companies that had previously left the ESA and its trade show entirely.

The LACC will once again play host to Activision's latest and greatest.

The LACC will once again play host to Activision's latest and greatest.

Two of the highest-profile ESA defectors--Activision Blizzard and LucasArts--have both signed on to participate in E3 2009. Other companies that left the trade group--including NCsoft, Codemasters, Crave, and id Software--are not currently among the listed exhibitors. The full list of exhibitors includes more than 70 companies spanning all aspects of the industry, from the "big three" of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo to joystick manufacturer CH Products and Taiwan-based light-gun maker ZeroPlus.

E3 2009 will take place June 2-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The official E3 Web site touts a complete exhibitor list, although it lacked some confirmed attendees as of press time. For more on the ESA's new approach to E3, check out GameSpot's interview with ESA CEO Michael Gallagher.

48 Comments

  • Mr_Versipellis

    Posted Mar 21, 2009 8:10 am GMT

    GOOD.

  • TehUndeadHorror

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 2:46 am GMT

    That's good, I miss E3's old awesomeness.

  • mastriania

    Posted Feb 4, 2009 8:27 am GMT

    Lucasarts? Does anyone know why they will be there? I want to know more about the Star Wars MMO (is that going to be PC-only?). Thanks in advance. Tylendal: thank you for explaining what a zombie is. I have always wondered.

  • Tylendal

    Posted Feb 4, 2009 8:10 am GMT

    Does this mean that E3 is a zombie now? I mean, it had died, but now its back...

  • msudude211

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 6:25 pm GMT

    Glad to see this, though I'm extremely ticked, to put it lightly, that E3 is so early.

  • i_like_laX

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 4:06 pm GMT

    "My dream is to see the Blizzard CEO throwing copies of Starcraft 2 around and yelling: "Wait, don't leave without picking your Diablo III DVD from the receptionist""

    I forgot those games existed until you said so, hopeuflly we get to see some KOOR, (KOTOR is such a better acronym, dont change what isnt't broken LUCASARTS)

  • JackHoleFace00

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 2:09 pm GMT

    YES!!! E3 is back! You have no idea how long I've waited for this day. I've dreamed about going since I was a little kid, and since then I've graduated from college, moved to LA, and now work in the media industry. And just when I thought I'd have the chance to go, they changed the setup dramatically. I felt like the E3 party train had left the station and was never coming back...

    But no! Now I can finally see what it's like having a huge show with massive showcases, all the nonsense, "booth babes," after parties, etc. Can. Not. Wait!

  • Trooperdx3117

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 8:12 am GMT

    As long as I hear something about Half life 2 Episode 3 i'll be happy

  • Ohaidere

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 6:10 am GMT

    Wow, no one saw this coming 2 years ago.

    Not like EVERYONE thought that E3's idea of a downsized show was garbage. Advertising and creating a bunch of entusiasm about games is bad for business obviously. Making money is bad, obviously.

    Who are the idiots who run most of these companies? To borrow words from John Stewart on a different set of CEOs and business people trying out dumb ideas: "You don't have best people."

  • isaacmj

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 5:35 am GMT

    My dream is to see the Blizzard CEO throwing copies of Starcraft 2 around and yelling: "Wait, don't leave without picking your Diablo III DVD from the receptionist"

  • nintendo-naut

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 4:45 am GMT

    @Jade_Monkey: Isn't that kind of a given? XD

  • Assasinnation

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 4:30 am GMT

    Just Tell Us The Release Dates Of:

    COD4:Moderen Warfare 2
    Star Wars Battlefront 3

  • KyoValdez

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 2:26 am GMT

    Needs more Jesus.

  • flyingteddy

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 2:15 am GMT

    keen to see what Square Enix will be showing, hopefully some release dates please!

  • H_FIRE

    Posted Feb 3, 2009 12:18 am GMT

    do i hear anything about a new Monkey Island game ? Or something similar ?

  • gameking5000

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 9:25 pm GMT

    I hope this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo leaves me like this :O. Having more companies participating will difently help the chances of that happening!

  • jim4604

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 8:37 pm GMT

    glad to see E3 heading back to how it use to be instead of downsizing. Someone up high made the right decision to start changing back.

  • bunnyman14

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 8:16 pm GMT

    I want to know what the Hawk has been up to this past year.

  • Maverick4Ever

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 7:40 pm GMT

    Maxor127, there's a number of flaws in your argument. Firstly, yes, E3 is a trade show, but to say that that makes it exclusive and only important to businesses is baloney. Trade shows are all about presentation of a company's products. For many companies it may be a matter of showing their prototypes off to potential investor companies, but ultimately what every company wants is for the consumers to become interested in what they are offering. Trade shows are the perfect way for them to make that happen. The larger business talks are done behind closed doors, some of them perhaps during the conference, but nevertheless out of the public's reach.

    As for your allegations of E3 being all about vaporware and deception, that is simply being short sighted. You must understand that many of the products there are still early in development. As with the production of virtually anything, this will mean that many changes and cuts will be made. Just because something was there during the previews does not necessarily mean that it will end up being there. That is not something that is unique to the video game industry or E3. It is the case for virtually all businesses in the world.

  • Maxor127

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 7:29 pm GMT

    And I think it's funny how game companies want to suddenly burn money in these harsh economic times. All I want to see and all anyone should care about are game previews and announcements.

  • Darth_Lucius

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 7:06 pm GMT

    Lucas arts is back! Does this mean Republic Commando 2?

  • Jade_Monkey

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 6:55 pm GMT

    @nintendo-naut: be careful what you wish for. You didn't ask for a good Star wars FPS, just a Star Wars FPS.

  • nintendo-naut

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 6:50 pm GMT

    Cool. E3 is one of the highlights of my year...Now please LucasArts...Please give me a StarWars FPS for Wii...Please?

  • julianwelton

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 6:44 pm GMT

    Cool now that Activision is going to be there I can get some more info on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

  • stalepretzels

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 6:34 pm GMT

    force unleashed could've been a whole lot better. The targeting system I think was one of the main problems along the lines of combat. I couldn't target ANYTHING.

    I agree with BloodMist. I want another game like Jedi Knight.

  • BloodMist

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 5:41 pm GMT

    Heh....i miss games like Jedi Knight 2....real Star Wars games.That's just me.

  • nintendoboy16

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 5:40 pm GMT

    @BloodMist

    So far in this gen, Lucasarts seemed to have screwed up with The Clone Wars Wii. The Force Unleashed got "meh" results and wasn't considered to be bad.

    Back on topic, I wonder on what games Lucasarts and Activision Blizzard will bring. Hopefully, Activision Blizzard brings us more Starcraft II and maybe Diablo III.

  • R3DN1N3

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 4:53 pm GMT

    Oh dear....isn't restoring E3 to the glory days what got it in trouble in the 1st place?
    Anyways, E3 is a trade show not a huge demo spot/
    Please, leave the gamers out of this.

  • vaskaville

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 4:11 pm GMT

    E3 is to expensive for me, I'm going with PAX.

  • vmfstorm1

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 4:04 pm GMT

    E3 is a very important exhibition, first of the year, and many devs choose to show a game first at E3 rather than Leipzig or Tokyo

  • BloodMist

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 3:59 pm GMT

    Gonna show a game that doesn't suck Lucasarts?i hope so.

  • Spartan_418

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 3:41 pm GMT

    w00t! E3 '06 was epic. Hopefully this year it'll be of the same caliber.

  • jrabbit99

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 3:10 pm GMT

    Great news!!! All the more reason to make the annual pilgrimage.

  • Maxor127

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 2:45 pm GMT

    Rageset is right. Game companies were the ones crying in the first place that E3 was too big and expensive. Morons blame the ESA. Then gamers cried that their game amusement park was changed. Well, I hate to break it to you but E3 is a trade show and not an amusement park, so if I were a game company, I wouldn't want to spend millions of dollars for a booth just to entertain some nerds. 99% of the people who cry about E3 being smaller don't even go to it and 90% of the people who actually did go to it didn't even belong since it's supposed to be meant for businesses and media, not fanboys and tourists. Therefore me as an observer who just reads about it online could care less because the content is all the same to me. And in my experience E3 is just a demonstration of vaporware and deception. I remember the Halo 2 demo and thinking wow that looks awesome and the game was nothing like that and didn't even feature the level they demoed.

  • raahsnavj

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 2:40 pm GMT

    As long as Miyamoto comes out on stage and makes an ass of himself I'm there! It wouldn't hurt to have some nobody come out and shake around his arms with a bad hairstyle either...

    On a real note, good to see it wanting to return to its real fan-fare. I was affraid the face of gaming was going to slip to the penny-arcade guys and their f-bombs.

  • Guzthon

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 2:38 pm GMT

    All right!! Welcome back, it's been a long time.
    Please E3, bring back the girls booth, for all the video game fans from around the world!

  • Proto-K

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 1:54 pm GMT

    Jedi Academy?

  • RageSet

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 1:38 pm GMT

    I don't mean to burst anyone's bubble, but in a few years of the newly reformat of E3, we will have publishers yet again crying for a change to E3.

    Remember, the main reason for the reduced E3 was because of publishers and developers complaining of the cost and extra work (to get working demos) of the E3 of yesteryears. I always loved the old fashion wild west style of E3, but will it be another 10 years when ESA start talking about reducing E3 again?

    I do hope this new E3 format gives MORE opportunity for indie and small developers to showcase their games, because if you ever been to E3, you know finding the good budget titles were like finding a needle in a haystack.

  • Amir29

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 1:26 pm GMT

    Welcome back!!

  • remmbermytitans

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 1:18 pm GMT

    This is why "if it ain't broke, don't mess with it". WELCOME BACK E3!

  • bigd575

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 1:06 pm GMT

    Can't wait.

  • Cabose420

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 12:45 pm GMT

    glad its returning to its old format. I missed you E3

    ...so much :'[

  • otanikun

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 12:14 pm GMT

    I cannot wait for this, I'm not missing this for anything, welcome back old E3, we missed you!

  • dr_jashugan

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 12:10 pm GMT

    Yeah, bring back the OLD E3, and don't forget the booth BABES.

  • Kakua_Omari

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 11:56 am GMT

    About time. I missed the old E3, glad they went back to the old format.

  • lordinuyasha21

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 11:48 am GMT

    Wow it's about time...Is it still closed to the public?

  • Dilan120

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 11:37 am GMT

    Nice!! I missed the real E3

  • mute4

    Posted Feb 2, 2009 11:19 am GMT

    Can't wait for all those awesome game announcements!

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