CEA announces it will not take E3′s place with headline gaming event

After the big announcement a few days ago that the year’s hottest gaming event – E3 – was folding, the CEA (organization behind CES) jumped at the opportunity. They spoke with industry insiders and other VIPs, getting ready to take on yet another huge conference. When E3 announced just a few days ago plans to re-invent themselves as a smaller event, the CEA backed off by issuing the following statement.

“At the request of our board, CEA spent the past few months soliciting industry feedback, via advisory committee meetings and a research survey, to determine the need for a new gaming event. During this process, we found a strong desire for a gaming event that included a broad array of the gaming industry, including PC and wireless gaming companies.”

“Although CEA was prepared to launch a new event, the recent announcement by ESA that it would open its event to both ESA and non-ESA members and would include PC and wireless gaming, led us to conclude that a new spring West Coast event would likely not serve the best needs of the industry. At this point, we will continue dialog with the industry to determine if the need for a broader gaming event exists for 2008.”

As you can see, they haven’t completely backed off of the opportunity yet. I’m going to go ahead and say that within a year or 2, the CEA will host a new series of gaming shows called the Consumer Gaming Show.

Read [Press Release]