If Hollywood’s Big Week Is Any Sign, Video Game Hype Is Dead Forever

19 Apr at 13:44 Comment Views: 9

Annual E3 Gaming Industry Conference Held In Los Angeles — Xbox booth

Patch Notes is our weekly curated newsletter. Delivered to your inbox every Friday, you can also catch the latest edition right here on the site every Sunday. Sign up here.

For the past few days, I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on CinemaCon, the film industry’s massive annual exhibition held in Las Vegas. It’s essentially a glitzy trade show where Hollywood’s heavy hitters unveil their upcoming lineups, showing off exclusive clips and parading A-list stars across the stage to dazzle theater owners. While the prospect of a week spent in the heart of Vegas—filled with corporate posturing and PR spin—doesn’t hold much appeal for me, I have to admit, there’s an undeniable magnetism to it. Part of me wishes I were in the front row soaking it all in.

The sentiment surrounding this year’s event was palpably upbeat. With global box office numbers trending upward and a slate of highly anticipated, refreshingly original films on the horizon, the energy in the room was electric. Studios like Sony, Warner Bros., and Universal delivered absolute crowd-pleasers, while Disney ignited excitement with Avengers: Doomsday, and even Amazon MGM managed to stake its claim as a serious cinematic player. And let’s be real: seeing legends like Spielberg and Nolan in the same room is a reminder of why we love movies in the first place. Dune: Part Three? Sounds monumental. A giant robot epic from the visionary behind Godzilla Minus One? Count me in. The industry feels revitalized.

Perhaps it’s a symptom of my long tenure as a games journalist, but I have a soft spot for this kind of manufactured hype. It’s a feeling I haven’t quite shaken since the glory days of E3. Goodness, I miss that show.

CinemaCon functions much like E3 did for the gaming world—a high-stakes gathering of industry elite and media, all crammed into darkened theaters to watch trailers and endure scripted executive speeches. It’s grand, it’s theatrical, and it’s entirely focused on building anticipation through sheer spectacle.

Of course, the two industries guard their secrets differently. While game companies often hold their cards close to their chest to a fault, the film industry tends to leak contract details constantly. However, Hollywood is ruthlessly protective of its actual footage. This creates a fascinating dynamic at CinemaCon where the public is left to rely on secondhand accounts and blog recaps—a frustration, certainly, but one that adds a layer of undeniable mystery to these upcoming projects.

And let’s not overlook the petty corporate rivalries, which remain a guilty pleasure of mine. Disney’s recent introduction of “Infinity Vision”—a move clearly triggered by Warner Bros.’ refusal to budge on the release date of Dune: Part Three—is a classic display of corporate ego. It’s reminiscent of the wildest console wars of the past, filled with the same kind of amusingly irrational, self-defeating spite. I find it absolutely captivating.

Deep down, I recognize that E3’s demise was likely inevitable—a necessary end for an event that became an ecological and financial burden. Yet, in this age of constant, fragmented online showcases, I find myself missing the grand showmanship. We’ve lost those massive, stage-shaking announcements and the raw, human theater of a live corporate blunder.

Consider Pragmata, our headline release this week. Its bizarre trailers and seemingly endless delays would have been perfectly amplified by the sheer scale of an E3 reveal. While the game itself is already brilliant, a debut at such a venue would have made finally playing it feel like a genuine event.

Also this:

The 100 greatest video game quotes of all time: Our latest ambitious special feature led the entire team to collectively lose our minds.
Mark Hamill on Luke Skywalker: Matt Patches sits down with the icon for a deep dive into the legacy of one of cinema’s greatest heroes.
Crimson Desert’s status: Marloes Valentina Stella examines a title that has seen meaningful improvements, though cracks still remain.
2026’s unexpected standout: Giovanni Colantonio makes the case for Sol Cesto, a must-play dungeon crawler that just hit version 1.0.