The return of Xbox FanFest to E3 begins a profound year for Xbox and its fans. When we started doing FanFest a little over 3 years ago, we not only wanted to build rally points around the world for Xbox Nation, but we wanted gamers everywhere to know how deeply important they were to our past, present and future. Last year, we reached an incredible 13,000 Xbox fans at FanFests around the world. In Mexico, we built a huge Xbox-only event, in Australia we not only took fans drifting to celebrate the launch of Forza Horizon 3 but we took them to Bondi Beach for a little Gears of War 4, and at gamescom, we shut down our booth so FanFest attendees could play all the hottest Xbox exclusives. This year, we’re looking to do even more, with more surprises, to show the world Xbox is ready for the fans in 2017.

Once again, Xbox FanFest will give 500 lucky fans a one-of-a-kind, up-close-and-personal experience to the gaming industry’s biggest showcase. Xbox FanFest: E3 2017 kicks off Sunday, June 11 and runs through Tuesday, June 13.

Today, we’re happy to share the first details on just how you can go about taking part. First, as with previous Xbox FanFests, you’ll need to be over the age of 21 and have an Xbox Live gamertag. Next, you’ll need to get a ticket. We’ve had a big change from previous years, as we will now be employing an online registration process. After listening to fan feedback from last year’s event, we wanted to streamline the process to ensure Xbox fans can lock their attendance months in advance. We believe we will deliver an even better FanFest in 2017 with the additional time this new process affords us.

Here’s how it’ll work: 400 of the 500 tickets will be available first-come, first-serve starting this Wednesday, April 19. Tickets will be released in drops throughout the day, with the first drop starting at 6 AM PT. Stay glued to #XboxFanFest and @Xbox on Twitter for when those drops occur! Please note that you will need to have a credit card to hold the ticket. There is no charge to reserve a ticket but cancelation fees will apply. The remaining 100 tickets will be distributed through a variety of other promotions/giveaways. Follow #XboxFanFest on Twitter for when some of those promotions start. Be sure to hit the official Xbox FanFest: E3 2017 page for complete details and an FAQ.

We’re also excited to share information on more of what you’ll receive if you’re one of those 500 lucky fans. As in previous years, you’ll get entry into the Xbox E3 2017 Briefing on Sunday, June 11, at 2:00 PM PT, in downtown Los Angeles, as well as a custom-built backpack full of gaming swag. Attendees will also get “Early Access” to Xbox’s hottest exclusives, Project Scorpio, and our biggest blockbuster games at a private event on Monday evening, June 12th.

Of course, we’ve still got plenty of awesome E3 experiences for those fans that can’t make it to Los Angeles for FanFest. Xbox Daily: LIVE @ E3, our live news show that covers all things Xbox at E3, will begin airing on Monday, June 12, and can be streamed live on Beam, Xbox One, on Xbox.com (both on your desktop and on mobile), on Xbox 360, and on the Xbox Twitch Channel.

These are just a few of the activities Xbox has planned for the week, so stay tuned to Xbox Wire for all the latest on E3 2017!