OPINION: Two’s a crowd

So it transpires that GAME’s new consumer show has upset more than just team Eurogamer.

After steady growth and increasing popularity, supporting this year’s Expo seemed like a no-brainer for many marketers.

However Gamefest’s debut has created a real headache.
Publishers are facing a choice. Just Gamefest? Just Eurogamer?

Try both?

So far, many are saying they’ll attempt each.

They will somehow find the budget. They will somehow work out how to swiftly and cost effectively dismantle a pile of cardboard and move it from one city to another.
You could argue that choice and competition is always a good thing, and GAME’s event certainly has its advantages and exciting aspirations.

Yet it also has its drawbacks. It’s a solution to a problem no one actually had. And we all know what happens when there’s one too many similar or competing events doing the rounds – we end up without one next year.

What most publishers really want is to be able to definitely support the always-excellent GAME managers’ event, which is secure and behind closed doors.

And then pick one of the two consumer events.

But when one of those events is also run by the same market-leading retailer, the choice is being forced upon them.