YouTube Doubles Down On Its Coverage Of Video Game Conference E3

For the third year in a row, YouTube plans deliver live streaming coverage of E3, the annual conference at which video game developers and publishers will tease upcoming projects. In 2017, YouTube’s E3 coverage will double in size. As first reported by Variety, the video site plans to offer two days of live streaming content rather than just one.

YouTube’s E3 coverage will begin at 1 PM PT on June 11, will run into the evening, and will resume the next day at noon PT. In total, the plan is to bring 17 hours of live programming to viewers, including look-ins at major presentations, analysis from studio host Geoff Keighley (pictured above) and his colleagues, segments that will incorporate the stream’s audience, and appearances from top YouTube gamers like AngryJoe, Ali-A, iJustine, MatPat, Nadeshot, and Vikkstar. These festivities will all take place before E3, which begins June 13 and runs for three days.

YouTube’s first E3 live stream, back in 2015, helped the video site promote its then-new YouTube Gaming hub. YouTube, bolstered by the eight million views its E3 coverage received that year, covered the conference once again in 2016, and it also furthered its partnership with Keighley by giving the host his own weekly talk show, Live With YouTube Gaming. “E3 is a huge moment for everyone who plays video games, and YouTube is the biggest video platform for gaming in the world,” said Keighley.

Variety indicated that YouTube and Keighley’s latest pact is a multi-year deal, though the exact length of the agreement was not revealed.