E3 is Open to the Public for the First Time This Year E3 attendees no longer have to be tied to the gaming industry to access the expo.

E3 is selling 15,000 tickets to the public this year. Until 2017, E3 was an industry exclusive event where game journalists, developers, and publishers gathered every June to connect and discuss upcoming video game hardware and software. However, the Entertainment Software Association, the organizer of the E3 event, has decided that the general public should be admitted and tickets will be available for anyone to purchase starting Monday, February 13.

The E3 general admission tickets available to the public will cost $250 with an early bird discount available to purchasers on February 13 that lowers the price to $150. These tickets will allow access to panel discussions, the show floor, and other to-be-determined events from Tuesday, June 13 through Thursday, June 15. Geoff Keighley is partnering with the ESA to provide public attendees with exclusive perks such as interviews with developers.

E3's relevance has been called into question in the last few years. With the ability to disseminate information quickly and efficiently over the internet, and flagging support from companies like Activision and EA, some say E3 is a holdover from a time when there was no choice but to gather in a central location to get info about the latest in video gaming.

A tentative list of E3 2017 exhibitors is available on the E3 Insider website, and again this year big names like EA and Activision are absent. The ESA states that the list of exhibitors isn't final, but I wouldn't be surprised if the final list contained fewer names than last years.

Whether or not E3 2018 will be open to the public isn't decided yet. However, the ESA more than likely hopes that the opportunity to directly interact with the public will convince exhibitors to continue contributing to the expo, so E3 might be open to all comers from now on.

E3 2017 is scheduled to take places June 13-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. You (yes, you) can purchase tickets for E3 starting February 13.