At the Evolve PR blog, an opinion piece has appeared proposing that downsizing E3 will have some sad consequences for the small guys: small publishers/developers and the "second-tier" gaming sites.

The smaller E3 was meant to refocus the event to what it was supposed to be at the start: business. The smaller, more intimate - and exclusive - event may now mean that everyone can get down to business, but as the article proposed, the small guys will have a hard time dealing. On the small-publisher side, the "large" E3 was a chance for them to be able to reach out to a broad audience and thus garner much-needed publicity for their titles.

On the second-tier sites side, the "large" E3 also provided the same benefits. As alluded to in responses from anonymous sources in the gaming journalism scene, the "large E3" was the place to report on everything gaming, and at the same time make some needed contacts with the gaming industry. The smaller E3, with its more restricted invite list, doesn't provide the same benefit. And with usually only one staff member getting the invite, that guy's now left with the burden of taking notes and making networks.

Either way, the old E3 is dead, and while the new E3 (or E4), as well as everyone else, steps into to fill the void, somehow it might not be the same. The argument is that mixing business with pleasure the old E3 way had its advantages for the small guys.