E3 Coliseum host Geoff Keighley is skipping this year’s show

The E3xodus continues!

This year’s annual extravaganza of all things video games has been bleeding developers like a staked vampire in a Mel Brooks Dracula movie, with the 2020 edition of E3 losing plenty of big names on the road to Los Angeles. You can add one more name to that list: Longtime E3 attendee and E3 Coliseum host Geoff Keighley, who announced that after 25 years of covering the show he’ll be skipping it entirely when June rolls around.

Keighley’s presence at E3 began with the usual madness of covering the event for news outlets and braving the maddest gauntlets of press events, after which he transitioned to Spike TV as a host for video interviews with developers, branching out eventually towards YouTube and then livestreaming panels with the E3 Coliseum event just outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center where the event takes place every year.

He was also instrumental in the game critics tour show, which would usually end with those numerous silly critics who won’t let us into their stinky-ass club voting on the best games of E3 and no I’m not bitter that we never got invited in. As for the Entertainment Software Association, the parent group who runs E3? They’re currently putting on a brave face and in a press release announced that E3 “will feature special guest gamers, celebrities, and digital programming on the show floor while connecting with global audiences through extended livestreaming.

A highlight will be the debut of an all-new floor experience that will be streamed to bring exclusive conversations with leading industry innovators and creators to attendees and fans worldwide.

Keighley himself remarked that the idea of E3 needs to expand beyond its usual haunt in the Los Angeles Convention Center as the show still holds a sense of mythical importance to fans who always dreamed of attending but never got the chance to do so even when E3 opened its doors to the public:

I think E3 needs to become more digital and global. It’s a brand that means a lot to people, but it shouldn’t just be a show floor.

E3 used to be a week of gaming announcements and reveals that captured the attention of the industry for a solid week, but this year will see a withered husk of the original kick off in the hellhole that is Los Angeles. Sony is out, Microsoft will probably have a satellite event within the confines of the Nokia Theater again and EA wised up ages ago as it set up its own mini-event far away from the hustle and bustle of the LACC. E3 for its part, is promising a “shake-up” of the event that is currently fooling no one at all.

I wanted to share some important news about my plans around E3 2020. pic.twitter.com/EhrreKV9oR

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 12, 2020

As for Keighley? He’s always busy doing something and has teased that he’ll be focusing his energies on a different project this year. That, and the Game Awards have blossomed into a must-see end of year event, with last year’s edition having the honour of providing the first look at the Xbox Series X.

Also in before Cheddar makes a GE3off Keighley comment.

Last Updated: February 13, 2020