<P> The E3 event formally includes an exhibition floor for developers, publishers, and manufacturers to showcase titles and products to be sold in the upcoming year . In the few days before the event, the largest publishers and hardware manufacturers will hold an hour - long press conference to outline their offerings that will be on display, and which feature announcements of new games and products . E3 is considered to be the biggest gaming news expo of the year in North America . </P> <P> E3 was formerly an industry - only event; individuals who wished to attend were required by the ESA to verify a professional connection to the video - game industry . With the rise of streaming media, several of the press conferences were broadcast to the public to increase their visibility . In 2017, E3 became open to the public for the first time, issuing 15,000 passes for those who wanted to attend . </P> <P> E3 is usually held in late May or early June at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) in Los Angeles; the most recent event was held from June 13--15, 2017 . The show in 2018 is scheduled for June 12--14 . </P> <P> Before E3, game publishers went to other trade shows to display new or upcoming products; these include the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the European Computer Trade Show . As the game industry grew rapidly during the early 1990s, industry professionals felt that it had outgrown the older trade shows . According to Tom Kalinske, CEO of Sega America, "The CES organizers used to put the video games industry way, way in the back . In 1991 they put us in a tent, and you had to walk past all the porn vendors to find us . That particular year it was pouring rain, and the rain leaked right over our new Genesis system . I was just furious with the way CES treated the video games industry, and I felt we were a more important industry than they were giving us credit for ." Sega did not return to the CES the following year, and several other companies exited from further CES shows . </P>

Where is the e3 video games conference held