EA holds events for gamers in Los Angeles and London during E3

Publisher Electronic Arts is swapping its traditional booth at the E3 games fair for its own event in Los Angeles and London. Unlike the games fair, EA Play is open to gamers, who can reserve a free ticket in advance.

EA Play kicks off on Sunday afternoon, June 12 at 1:00 PM local time with a Media Briefing from Club Nokia in Los Angeles. That is almost next to the Convention Center, where the E3 has been taking place for many years. The event lasts through Tuesday. EA reports on the event’s own site that there will be hands-on sessions and competitions, special guests will be on the scene and several live streams will be available on the internet. For European gamers, EA will hold a similar event at The Mermaid conference room in London on June 12, Gamespot reports.

The arrival of EA Play also marks the end of EA’s traditional presence at the E3 fair itself, where the publisher normally had one of the largest booths. An advantage of the new approach is that the company’s activities can now also be visited by consumers, while the E3 fair is only accessible to media and business visitors. Due to the expected crowds, anyone who would like to visit EA Play should reserve a free ticket in due course via the event’s website.

It is not yet known which games Electronic Arts will feature during E3. Expect Mass Effect: Andromeda, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst and the downloadable content packs for Star Wars: Battlefront, as well as new versions of EA’s sports games, such as Madden and FIFA.