This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Calif., but the video game industry's largest annual trade event may relocate in 2013.
Michael Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Assn., warned that they would move the event to somewhere else if issues around the remodel convention center and construction of the proposed Farmers Field are not resolved.
Last year, the Entertainment Software Assn. put Los Angeles on notice when it balked at renewing its contract to stage E3 at the Convention Center beyond 2012, citing qualms around the proposed rebuild of the convention center to make way for Farmers Field.
In an interview on Sunday, Gallagher said, "We're still in discussions with the city of Los Angeles. But we have a number of issues that still need to be resolved. If we can't resolve them, we are preparing to go elsewhere."
Gallagher declined to mention which city or cities his group has been negotiating with, but people familiar with the situation claim that Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco and New York have been among the candidates.
The annual E3 event draws more than 45,000 attendees from around the globe. The convention generates around $40 million in direct spending on things like boarding, lodging, restaurants and taxis. It also creates hundreds of temporary construction and booth attendant jobs.