The Entertainment Software Association has announced via GameSpot that E3 2017 will be open to the public, where in recent years it has been limited to industry and media professionals. Starting this Monday, February 13, the ESA will begin selling 15,000 general access tickets for the trade show.
Tickets will go on sale for $150 on the 13th, but the price will rise to $250 after that. Passes will get attendees access to the show floor—with all the booths and game demos—as well as panel discussions, and something or other involving Geoff Keighley, referred to vaguely as "special benefits associated with Keighley's own E3 programming, such as developer interviews and more."
ESA senior VP of communications Rich Taylor tells GameSpot the change was "a strategic decision" based on feedback from last year's public E3 Live event. According to Taylor, the public wanted access to the show floor, and game publishers wanted them there.
It's also worth noting, as GameSpot does, that EA pulled out of E3 last year, which I have to assume was also factored into that strategic decision. Activision also chose not to have a booth at E3 2016, though it did partner with PlayStation to announce Call of Duty details and had meeting spaces at the show.
E3 2017 will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center June 13-15, and you can find more information on the official site. We'll post a link to the ticket sales as soon as we have one. See you there?
Correction: This article originally stated that Activision 'pulled out' of E3 2016. The story has been updated to indicate that while the publisher chose not to have a booth on the show floor, it did participate in other ways.
