EA boss Riccitiello "hates E3 like this"
Ubisoft thinks it was "terrible" too.
Industry big cheeses have slammed the E3 Media & Business Summit and questioned its importance on the gaming calendar.
"I hate E3 like this," EA boss John Riccitiello told the San Francisco Chronicle.
"Either we need to go back to the old E3, or we'll have to have our own private events."
Ubisoft US boss Laurent Detoc was equally blunt.
"E3 this year is terrible. The world used to come to E3. Now it's like a pipe-fitters show in the basement," he declared.
Their feelings over the event that was downsized and moved out of May (and initially the LA Convention Centre) two years ago were echoed by Ubisoft VIP Alain Corre.
"It's one milestone in the communication of your products throughout the year, and it's important because it's the ramp-up for Christmas," Corre told GamesIndustry.biz. "[But] E3 here, mid-July, in the Convention Center in downtown LA - it's not appropriate I would say."
Texas governor Rick Perry delivered this year's keynote to less than 20 people in a 1000-seat venue.
Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto also feels the event is no longer the right place to show core games, but rather to get across broader concepts to a wider audience.
E3 was once stampeded by 60,000 pairs of feet but now is an invite-only affair for 5000 press attendees.