The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 as it's commonly known, is a trade-show-meets-convention that relishes in unadulterated hype.
Nearly every big-budget title is presented as an industry-altering product (until its sequel emerges a year or two later), and celebrities are paid a nice chunk of dough to feign cringe-worthy hipness and gamer cred at a major press conferences. But shrewd publishers have tapped into a fresh way to build hype for their upcoming titles, a method that's more gamer-centric and decidedly less annoying that previous efforts: eSports.
ESports, the name given to the competition between professional video game players, is a rapidly growing industry with a passionate, dedicated fanbase. In fact, the Newzon research firm estimates that eSports will generate more than a billion dollars by 2019. ESports has quickly become the national pastime for a generation of gamers, so it makes sense, from a publisher's perspective, to market its titles to that audience.
Nintendo's going all-in with several eSports-related events that are designed to generate buzz for its excellent Nintendo Switch hybrid console, as engaging the community is of utmost importance to the company. After all, it wasn't that long ago that Nintendo foolishly attempted to block a Super Smash Bros. Melee Evo tournament live stream at Evo, the world's largest fighting game event. Gamers, people who are rarely shy about sharing their opinions online, gave Nintendo the business, and the company reversed its stance. Now, Nintendo's embracing that community across multiple E3 days.
On Tuesday, June 13 at 2:30 p.m. PT, Nintendo kicks off the 2017 Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational to demo its upcoming shooter on a world stage. In it, four-person teams–from the United States, Japan, Europe and Australia/New Zealand–will battle in a round-robin Turf War tournament to decide the seeding for the next round. In the following round, the teams will compete in the Ranked Battles and Turf War modes. The entire affair wraps up with a best-of-five semi-final fight and a best-of-seven championship round. The champs will walk away from the fray with a Splatoon 2 trophy that has their names engraved into it.
The Nintendo Switch competition continues the next day at 10:30 a.m. PT with the 2017 Pokken Tournament DX Invitational. Four pairs of currently unnamed YouTube and Twitch stars will brawl for a Pokken Tournament DX art piece signed by Tsunekazu Ishihatra, the president and CEO of The Pokemon Company, as well as other development team members.
And to spread the good word about the Nintendo Switch's upcoming ARMS, Nintendo will host the 2017 ARMS Open Invitational on Wednesday, June 14 at 3:30 p.m. PT. The arena fighter will be demoed by four professional players from the fighting game community: The legendary Alex "CaliPower" Valle, Kelsy "SuperGirlKels" Medeiros, Daniel "Tafokints" Lee, and Marie-Laure "Kayane" Norindr. The player who survives the single-elimination tournament walks away with a championship belt.
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Lest you think Nintendo is the only publisher that plans to leverage eSports for E3 hype, Square Enix is approaching the show in a similar fashion. To celebrate the early 2018 PlayStation 4 release of Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, a multiplayer arena-brawler that's been out in Japanese arcades for some time now, Square Enix will host a panel at Geoff Keighley's E3 Coliseum event on Tuesday, June 13 at 3:15 p.m. PT. The panel participants include notable professional fighting game players, K-Brad and Justin Wong, as well as members of the game's development team.
By showcasing professionals and influencers at these events, Nintendo and Square Enix are conveying—without actually stating it—that these games, which may appear casual on the surface, have enough meat to satisfy hardcore crowds. Instead of merely stating that these good times are for everyone, these publishers are literally showing you that they are by trotting out representatives of various super-passionate gaming communities.
Whether gamers as a whole buy what Nintendo and Square Enix are selling is another matter, but the publishers are building hype in a more sensible manner than they did at past E3s. It's a hype that includes the player as a central figure who will, hopefully, be catered to with complete games and non-abusive DLC.