Is E3 Useful For Indie Developers?

[billy7777]

It's a little early... since its not until june 2011...

But wanted to find out if any "indie-devs" from this board have been and if it's worth it to go.

Since I am so close (San Diego) - it almost doesn't seem right not to go... Obviously I probably won't go as an exhibitor but I think it's free as an attendee if you are a legit game dev? (and I have a couple games that made it to retail stores, bestbuy, etc. - so I think I am legit)

I am guessing you can walk in with a backpack or duffel bag full of packaged games and pass a few out to industry people you want to network with?

Anyone have any Experiences?

[ionside]

I went back in 2006 while I was working at Auran. certainly didn't feel welcoming to an indie developer showing off their wares. But I can't see there being an issue with handing out material while you're networking with people. You may get invited to a party afterwards if you strike a cord with someone, where you get to network with more people (probably drunk people).

[HarryBalls]

You may want to continually check their exhibitor list to see if the companies exhibiting represent potential partners/publishers/distributors of your game (s):

http://www.e3expo.com/show-info/641/exhibitor-list/

Its always helpful to have meetings setup at the conference rather than hoping you randomly meet people at the event or parties for the event.

[Grey Alien]

I've never been. It's probably fun to go as a gamer, but if not many Indies are going, it wouldn't be so good from a networking point of view.

[NicolasGB]

I never went to E3 but did attend many other major shows such as GDC in SF or Gamescom in Germany. I agree with HarryBalls, usually those events are pretty worthless if you don't have meetings set up in advance.
If anything, conferences are better because you can see the names of the speakers and grab the ones you really want to speak to at the end of their talk.

[Morgan Ramsay]

E3 is a press event. The development and publishing decision makers are behind closed doors in back-to-back meetings with the press for the duration of the show. If you attend E3, attend because you want to reach out to the press, and make sure you set up some meetings in advance. There are also a lot of exclusive parties, so if you can wrangle invitations, do that, too. If you attend for any other reason, you won't get any value from doing so.

[billy7777]

Thanks for all the comments!

I am not exactly sure what I expect to gain from going (since I already have a publisher,etc.) ... but it would be kind of nice to meet a few people from the industry, I guess?

It would be kind of cool if 30 of us indies got together and purchased a booth, huh? (Maybe not? LOL!)

[PoV]

Is E3 Useful For Indie Developers?

No.

But if it's practically free for you to travel and attend, and if you've never attended such an event, it's worth going to satisfy your nerd cravings.

You don't really need face-to-face meetings if you're getting distribution. If you're looking for money/funding, that's a different story.

but it would be kind of nice to meet a few people from the industry, I guess?

If that's your goal, then you're attending the wrong conference. GDC is for us. E3 is for the press. PAX is for the gamers (and us more than E3).