The E for All video game trade show came about with noble intentions, giving the video game-loving public a place to go after E3 became press only. While the second annual E for All is to be held during the first weekend of October this year, things are not looking too promising as far as attendance goes, both from publishers and the public. The show already changed its date once this year so that it wouldn’t fall on the same weekend as Penny Arcade Expo, which would have been convention suicide, but it seems that even moving to October can’t do much to help.

While last year’s show had a decent number of publishers and showcased some highly anticipated games, this year only Microsoft and EA have confirmed that they will be there. That’s right, only two publishers are scheduled with barely over a month to go until the show. According to Big Download, many big publishers (including Sony, Capcom, LucasArts, among others) have no plans to attend at this time. By comparison, PAX will have at least 20 publishers, and is expected to draw in around 45,000 attendees (more than twice what E for All had last year).

Timing is everything, and that fact that E for All is scheduled right in the middle of a busy gaming season chock full of bigger conventions did not do it any favors. Leipzig’s Games Convention just ended, PAX will be underway this weekend, and Blizzcon and Tokyo Game Show will take place the week after. For both the press and the public, it seems like E for All is the convention most likely to get lost in the shuffle. What does this mean for the future of E for All? Only time will tell, but if the trade show ends up coming back for a third year, they’re going to have to seriously rethink the timing of this convention. 

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