E3 will return in 2009, says ESA

The E3 Media & Business Summit will return in 2009 despite criticism this year from senior industry figures including EA boss John Riccitiello.

"We're beginning the process of surveying exhibitors and attendees to determine potential changes to the Summit," a representative of the Electronic Software Association, which organises the event, told GameSpot.

This will then be shared with the ESA Board and followed by an announcement "about the specifics of the 2009 E3 Media & Business Summit, which will occur".

The ESA might want to give Riccitiello, Ubisoft's Laurent Detoc and Alain Corre and Dave Perry a ring, then, given they've all slagged off this year's event.

"I hate E3 like this," Riccitiello told the San Francisco Chronicle last week, while Ubisoft US boss Detoc said the show was "terrible", Corre told GamesIndustry.biz that the format and timing was "not appropriate", and Perry said it was "broken" among other things.

However, Bethesda Softworks' Pete Hines has said that "we need an E3", even if this year's format was a bit cack.

"It either needs to go back to an improved version of last year [when the event was spread across hotels in Santa Monica], or something closer to what it was but perhaps with some controls and boundaries," Hines told TechRadar.

The invite-only E3 2008 took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center last week, but mainly in meeting rooms spread around the entrance to the otherwise-unused West Hall.

Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo put on big press conferences, but the latter duo chose venues away from E3 itself and other companies like Sony Europe, Activision and EA hosted activities at hotels and auditoriums across the city.