E3 2019: What Does It Stand For Anyway?

It's June, and that means it's almost time for the year's biggest gaming show, E3. The annual gaming convention returns once again this year--albeit in a somewhat different form, with Sony not attending. But the bottom line is that you'll soon be inundated with gaming news, announcements, and trailers from a wide variety of publishers, and perhaps even new console announcements from a company like Microsoft. All of this will happen either during E3 or just before it, during the various press conferences scheduled to take place quite soon. But you could be forgiven for asking a very basic question about the show: What does E3 stand for?

E3 is a ubiquitous term for the industry's biggest gaming event, but it's merely a shorthand for its full name: the Electronic Entertainment Expo. E3 has been around for more than two decades now, dating back to 1995. It's evolved significantly over the years, and in the mid-2000s actually changed its name and format pretty dramatically. The E3 Media and Business Summit was held in 2007 and 2008 as a more stripped-down show that limited the number of attendees.

More recently, E3 has expanded to even open its doors partially to the public. It's still primarily an industry- and media-focused event, but game publishers are increasingly interested in using the money and effort they pump into their E3 showings to go directly to fans. Recent years have also seen the event unofficially extended; while E3 itself lasts only three days, it's closer to a week-long affair thanks to the press conferences that come before it and EA Play, which takes place on the Saturday before E3. Most of the other press conferences happen on Sunday and Monday, with Nintendo being the last one to go on Tuesday morning, just before the E3 show floor opens. As noted above, Sony will not be in attendance this year.

You can check out the video above for a more in-depth look at the history of E3. We also have an overview of E3 2019, a rumor roundup, and a look at the biggest games.