The ESA is revamping E3 and the media registration process to avoid data leaks

E3 has been in some trouble for a while now, with publishers losing interest and the number of attendees paving the way for very lengthy waiting lines for short gameplay demos. The situation reached new heights last year when the ESA leaked personal details of media attendants via a security flaw on its website. The ESA has not apologised for the incident but today, the association did say that “earning back your trust is our top priority”.

Over 2,000 media attendees had their details leaked last year, including the names of publications they work for, their home address and phone numbers. The security flaw was fixed but by that point, the damage was already done. In preparation for E3 2020 registration, the ESA has announced that it has “upgraded the media registration process, which received a lot of attention this past summer”.

The ESA goes on to say: “we rebuilt the E3 website with enhanced and layered security measures developed by an outside cybersecurity firm. This included updating our data management processes, including the handling of personally identifiable information, and we will no longer store that data on our site. We have also changed our registration practices and will collect the minimum information necessary to complete your registration.”

While media will be a big part of E3 as usual, the ESA is also looking to turn this into more of a fan-driven event. This will involve ‘shaking things up' by inviting influencers and companies like iam8bit, which make gaming-oriented memorabilia and collectables.

KitGuru Says: E3 has been changing for a few years now and it sounds like the in-person experience is going to be very different this year. For those of us at home though, we'll still get the usual big announcement streams from publishers and console makers.

Become a Patron!