State of Play indefinitely postponed

Organisers have confirmed that the State of Play consumer event which was due to run over 3 days in October has been postponed indefinitely, due to lack of support from the industry.

Initially scheduled to take place at the Birmingham NEC Arena on 14th-16th of October, the event had received support from both EA and Microsoft, but has failed to attract enough interest elsewhere to continue as planned.

Organiser Mark Adams confirmed the event's postponement to trade magazine MCV this week, following a recent plea for support from the wider industry. "Software publishers have all voiced the opinion that the industry really needs a quarter 4 consumer show, but save for EA no one has actually signed on the dotted line," Adams' industry-wide email had stated. The postponement marks the disappearance of yet another UK consumer event, Game Stars Live (backed by EA and trade body ELSPA) was also cancelled earlier this year.

State of Play was to be an ambitious event with hopes of a more life-style oriented experience, using strong media and brand links. Microsoft planned high profile promotions for its new Xbox 360 console at the event, but the rest of the industry seemed largely unenthused and ultimately failed to show any support.

Electronic Arts held high hopes for State of Play to take the place of Game Stars Live as the only final quarter consumer event for the UK. Amongst many other promotions and sponsorship events, the company was due to host the FIFA Interactive World Cup event at State of Play. EA will shortly be announcing its new plans and venue for the tournament.