The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced, Thursday, that 48,200 attendees crowed Los Angeles Convention Center while contributing $40 million in revenue for the city for E3 2013.
Industry professionals, journalist and retailers from around the world filled an accumulated 28,000 hotel room nights. 230 exhibitors from many aspects of the industry showcased software, hardware and other services.
It was also revealed that E3 will return to the city of angels June 10 - 12 next year and remain at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The news comes as a banner hanging around an entrance read "See you next! June 10-12, 2014" caught the eye of attendees leaving Thursday evening.
Last year, the ESA made a commitment to staying in the city until 2015 due to incumbent mayor Antonio Villaraigosa involving himself in negotiations.
"My office was committed to doing whatever it took to keep the largest annual conference that the city hosts here for another three years," said Villaraigosa in a statement.
Los Angeles has hosted E3 for 16 out of 18 years with Santa Monica, Calif. hosting in 2007 and 1997 in Atlanta, Ga.
Reports of the expo possibly moving to areas including San Francisco and New Orleans came as Los Angeles were having issues with scheduled construction of Farmers Field. Farmers Field may be built by destroying the LA Convention Center's West Hall and will serve as the city's football field. Los Angeles has yet to acquire a football team at the moment. E3's West Hall showcased Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony's enormous booths while serving a few third-party developers like Tecmo Koei.
ESA president and CEO Michael D. Gallagher attributed the success of the expo and trade show to positive growth within the industry.
"This year's E3 showcased the best that our industry has to offer and channeled the immense energy, drive, and enthusiasm for video games onto a global stage," said Gallagher. "Thanks to our members and exhibitors' boundless capacity for innovation, billions of consumers are seeing the future of our industry through this outstanding landscape of creativity, technology and content."
