SAN FRANCISCO, United States — The world’s premier video
game trade show, E3, kicked off online Saturday, celebrating play that “kept us
sane” during the pandemic, celebrating fantasy worlds with Ubisoft’s new
offering “Avatar,” and promising a real-world gathering next year.
اضافة اعلان
The Electronic Entertainment Expo that each year turned the
Los Angeles Convention Center into a players’ paradise was cancelled in 2020
because of
Covid-19, and went virtual this year with a streamed event.
“During the pandemic that prevented us from being with so
many family, friends and colleagues, video games connected us, entertained us
and brought us together,” said Entertainment Software Association chief
executive Stanley Pierre-Louis.
“Games kept us sane,” he said.
The association has hosted E3 annually since 1995, most of
those years in Los Angeles.
“It’s an opportunity to convene and celebrate as a
community,” Pierre-Louis said during an opening presentation.
Video game play has surged during the pandemic, as people
turned more than ever to the internet for entertainment.
Overall consumer spending on
gaming in the United States
totaled just shy of $15 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 30
percent from the same period in 2020, according to industry tracker NPD Group.
“We’ve been amazed by the role games have played in our
everyday lives,” Pierre-Louis said.
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