Will Wright: E3 is a Zombie

Will Wright, the Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame designer responsible for Spore and The Sims, dubbed the E3 trade show "the walking dead."

Talking to GamesIndustry, Wright added to a rising chorus in the games industry claiming the E3 Media & Business Summit has outlived its usefulness since evolving from the over-the-top Electronic Entertainment Expo to a low-key industry meet. This year's E3 came under heavy fire for having a weak collection of products on show.

"I think they [the organizers of E3] were looking for a way to sign the arms treaty and de-escalate the whole thing," Wright reasoned. "I understand why they really pulled the plug on the big E3. Looking at the amount of money a company like EA would spend on it, it was ridiculous amounts of money just to be present and competitive with everyone else."

Still, much of the industry has scrambled for something to fill the void left by the ghost of E3. Many studios are putting their stock in the Penny Arcade Expo, which begins tomorrow.