It’s official! Sony will be skipping E3 for the second year in a row, as the corporation sent out word through their various channels to confirm that they have other plans for 2020 and the release of the PlayStation 5 console. Plans that currently don’t include the beleaguered Electronic Entertainment Expo which has in recent years seen big names vacate the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center and reduce the gigantic E3 of old to a shallow husk of its former glory.
“We have great respect for the [Entertainment Software Association] as an organization, but we do not feel the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year,” a Sony spokesperson explained to GamesIndustry.biz.
After thorough evaluation SIE has decided not to participate in E3 2020. We will build upon our global events strategy in 2020 by participating in hundreds of consumer events across the globe. Our focus is on making sure fans feel part of the PlayStation family and have access to play their favorite content. We have a fantastic line up of titles coming to PlayStation 4, and with the upcoming launch of PlayStation 5, we are truly looking forward to a year of celebration with our fans.
It’s a massive shift for Sony as skipping E3 in a year when their first-party offerings may not have been at their strongest made perfect sense, but doing so when they have a new console to show off? Big news indeed. E3 1995 saw the unveiling of the original PlayStation in the west, the PlayStation 3’s 2005 reveal still stands as an infamous example of hype and in the years since then the brand was a regular at E3 with their massive slice of floor space that drenched the convention center in blue.
In this day and age though Sony joins Microsoft and Electronic Arts in the art of separating themselves from E3, with the Xbox brand in particular having successfully set up a celebration of their own right across the street from E3. Cheeky buggers. The hard truth of Sony’s latest exit from E3 is most likely that the brand sees little point in attending what was once the Wrestlemania of the gaming industry, preferring instead to control the message of the PlayStation 5 and the future of the brand on their own terms.
Is this the latest signal that E3 may well and truly be dead? Maybe! It’s the E3 that existed as the mecca of gaming that is on its way out, as the show is currently transforming more into a dedicated expo that runs in a similar vein to Comic Con. One that is more open to the public, focuses more on the consumer than the industry and evolves to meet those specific and potentially lucrative needs. And hopefully one that won’t leak out thousands of personal contact details for attending journalists again. Thanks for that, ESA.
Last Updated: January 14, 2020
G8crasha
January 14, 2020 at 08:07
So, if I was to ask the question of those present: How or when will they reveal the actual consumer version of the PS5, what would one say?
The D
January 14, 2020 at 08:07
Current rumour-mongering suggest a February reveal date for the console. As for the message? Tough to say, but it needs to be a subtle persuasion of why they reckon they’re the best, what games you can expect on launch day and what the PS5 will do differently.
Raptor Rants
January 14, 2020 at 08:14
I think that if Sony plays this right and puts less emphasis on performance and more on what exciting games are going to be there, they’ll knock this out the park again.
Microsoft have already showed a large portion of their hand and made some pretty big claims about performance and power of their unit. If any of it pans out to be slightly incorrect or implausible then people are going to shy away from MS. That’s where Sony need to strike. Surgically grabbing those that feel burned by MS.
That being said, if everything MS claims about their console is true… Well it’s going to be an interesting generation of consoles again then.
The D
January 14, 2020 at 08:14
Yeah! Look, I’m vain enough to want to buy something fancy and show it off for cosmetic reasons, but as always this decade’s battle for hearts and minds will be won through games alone.
Raptor Rants
January 14, 2020 at 08:14
You make an interesting observation about the cosmetic reasons. I know a lot of folk who do that. While I don’t understand it, there is definitely a big push to make a console look pleasing to folk because many will base their decisions purely on looks. Others will choose practicality, yet others care only for the enjoyment and what the platform offers in that respect, yet others prefer numbers.
It’s all about figuring out which of the markets you can please (You can please a few at a time but not all) and then going with that.
I fear that MS is focusing almost purely on power and forgetting to look at the rest of the market. But we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out.
Personally for me it will all be about what games are available and cost.
The D
January 14, 2020 at 08:47
Dude, first time I got my PS4? Pretty much took any chance I could to show off Tomb Raider Definitive Edition on it.
“Why yes, that is a PS4 and BEHOLD LARA’S TRESS-FX HAIR PHYSICS!”
Raptor Rants
January 14, 2020 at 09:08
Hahahahaha.
That was like me when I got my beefy PC in 2011.
LOOK! THIS THING CAN RUN CRYSIS… Wait that performs like poo…. IT CAN RUN CRYSIS 2! BEHOLD! 60FPS!
edit: I had a 4:9 screen back then. So it only ran 60FPS because of the res. When I got my first 1080p screen it was more like 45-50 but hey. Who’s counting fps right? Who!? WHO!? That never happens.
The D
January 14, 2020 at 08:14
Yeah! Look, I’m vain enough to want to buy something fancy and show it off for cosmetic reasons, but as always this decade’s battle for hearts and minds will be won through games alone.
Yozzie
January 14, 2020 at 08:14
Usually they wait until Xbox has dug their own grave big enough with the shovel of lies.
Geoffrey Tim
January 15, 2020 at 08:04
they’ll have their own event. Next month.
Raptor Rants
January 14, 2020 at 08:07
It’s a pity that the expo we grew up with is changing like this. But perhaps it’s for the best. Having the bigger players step aside allows for more of the smaller guys to be seen.
Also Sony probably realise that E3 can hurt them if what they release makes fans upset in anyway.
Not enough PS5 info, incorrect or slightly wrong PS5 info, too many exlucisves, not enough exclusives. The list goes on.
Yozzie
January 14, 2020 at 08:14
You can only watch so many non gaming orientated influencers try and hype up a crowd before the cringy fiasco forces you to avert your eyes.
I also think it’s better that E3 just focus on the smaller peeps since these big corporate giants have more than enough money for their own cons and whatever pop up announcements they want to make.
Raptor Rants
January 14, 2020 at 08:14
Exactly. Sony and MS can, almost at the drop of a hat money wise, produce a big event for an announcement of whatever they want.
Giving the smaller guys a chance to start showcasing just what they can do is going to be great. You can start focusing in on those with passion instead of sifting through millions of unknown games on Steam to try find that diamond in the rough
Gavin Mannion
January 14, 2020 at 08:19
Who’s going to be flying over and paying a fortune for accommodation to cover the smaller guys? The smaller guys were always riding on the coat tails of the big companies who helped cover these costs.
Raptor Rants
January 14, 2020 at 08:34
Mhmm. You make a very good point. Didn’t think about that. Now that you mention it, that is a bit of a problem.
However the gamers in general are showing more and more love for smaller dev companies instead of the larger ones. So perhaps the industry will shift along those same lines if it starts going that way? I’m not really sure there’s an easy answer. But I do feel the big AAA shows and craze will slowly become a thing of the past with big companies just self marketing instead of using shows. So the whole industry will likely change in response (Slowly but I believe it will)
Gavin Mannion
January 14, 2020 at 09:42
you really think gamers are showing more love for smaller dev companies?
There’s just been a few new companies make it big over the last decade etc, it’s the same pattern it’s always been. Except back in the “good ol days” all the companies were small and that’s when small companies really stood any chance
Raptor Rants
January 14, 2020 at 10:38
Well I guess my view is subjective to personal experience. Personally I’ve enjoyed more small game dev games than the large ones. AAA titles barely get a acknowledgement from me anymore. With very few exceptions such as Fallen Order.
What I am seeing become a potential thing is that the quality small guys will be able to become more visible. I hear what you are saying and it’s probably more likely that E3 will just simply not be sustainable and will eventually just become a gamers-con of sorts. But I really hope that it will grow to something that the emerging studios can use as a springboard
Pieter Kruger
January 14, 2020 at 08:34
Well, at least PS had a fantastic CES 2020 that wasn’t cringy AF at all……..
CodeDisQus
January 18, 2020 at 18:21
Bleak, but it makes sense, E3 is gonna be all about influencers and that must suck.
It’s gonna be a fascinating console release year, 2020 offers console makers different opportunities