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Sony is skipping E3 entirely in 2019

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Sony skipping E3 for the first time

The landscape for gaming’s premiere calendar event has been changing drastically over the past five years. E3 has long served as the one-stop stage for all the big announcements for the coming months and years, with the likes of Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA and Ubisoft all presenting their biggest upcoming titles at the event. But over the last few years that support has waned. EA moved out to their own show in Hollywood in 2017, a move which Microsoft replicated in 2018 by moving across the road. Now in 2019, Sony isn’t even going to be in Los Angeles at all.

Sony has been the ruler of the E3 press conferences for a long time now, perhaps negating their slow-paced one from this year. At E3 this year too they were given unimpeded space on the show floor, with Microsoft having moved buildings entirely. But buried in an announcement for E3 in 2019 is confirmation that Sony isn’t going to attend the trade show for the first time since its inception in 1994 – a massive move which has many wondering both what it means for E3, and what Sony might be doing with the bought time.

This revelation become curious when you consider that Sony also moved away from hosting PlayStation Experience this year – the new annual show for announcements and access to game open to the public. Sony clarified in a statement to Game Informer that their exclusion from the E3 support list doesn’t mean that they’re going to be hosting their own event during the time either. Instead, we really know nothing about when Sony will want to talk again next year, which is both exciting and confusing.

Sony skipping E3 for the first time 2

The obvious answer to this is that they simply have nothing new to show. Sony’s presser at E3 this year was already stagnant, with the company focusing on four previously announced games. This is the price Sony is paying for revealing projects like Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us 2 very early, as they start looking ahead towards new hardware and wrapping up exclusive development for the PS4.

So why not announce a new console at E3? Both Microsoft and Sony announced the current-gen consoles at exclusives events, only using E3 to announce pricing for each. If Sony is skipping E3 you can bet that they won’t be announcing a PS5 before June 2019 either, as it would be strange for the company to have such a big reveal and then skip the event entirely. Instead, Sony might be holding their cards close, and preparing for a big event on their own time and turf later in the year to kick start the PS5 and maybe ring out the PS4 is a strong way.

Or at least that’s what they’ll need to do now, given that all this cancellation invites is speculation. The next time Sony pipes up again, it needs to be huge. But the presence at E3 from Microsoft and Nintendo need to be equally strong. This is a strange opportunity for Xbox specifically to have all the light on the stage for themselves. If it wasn’t seeming like it already, the season finale to this generation of consoles is looking like a banger already.

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Last Updated: November 16, 2018

29 Comments

  1. Pieter Kruger • a few seconds ago
    Good.

    Reply

  2. Pieter Kruger

    November 16, 2018 at 07:59

    Stupid move $ony, the biggest annual event for your fans & you don’t see the need?? Calling all hypocrites…… please, tell us how this is actually a brilliant move, how E3 is suddenly not relativant anymore etc.etc.

    Reply

    • Darren Peach

      November 16, 2018 at 09:59

      For once, I don’t agree with you. But I am disappointed by this so I feel frustrated and I feel negative feelings toward the mighty Sony……

      Reply

    • Umar

      November 16, 2018 at 08:11

      E3’s relevancy has been on a decline for some time, that said we don’t know anything else about their plans. It’s too soon to tell whether it’s a good or bad move.

      Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        November 16, 2018 at 08:18

        ? E3 is still THE biggest gaming event(don’t beleive Geoff Keighley….) and this is nothing more than a slap in their fans’ faces! Being nr.1, they can do E3 AND whatever else they have planned for 2020 or whatever…..

        Reply

        • Pariah

          November 16, 2018 at 08:52

          I’m sorry, but Gamescom and the PAX events have become much bigger than E3 in recent years. More is announced and more happens at Gamescom than anything else, and PAX gives more intimate experiences to fans around the world. E3 just isn’t relevant any more.

          Reply

          • Pieter Kruger

            November 16, 2018 at 09:06

            E3(and everything around it) is still King imo but Gamescom is also not bad (wasn’t $ony absent there too?) Pax for that Indie itch maybe?

          • Pariah

            November 16, 2018 at 09:26

            Every year less focus is put on E3 and more on the Gamescom and smaller, individual events. They’re more intimate, they connect better with fans, and since more and more exposure is done through “influencers” rather than traditional media these days, E3 is just not as worth it any more. That’s why E3 this year for the first time let public in. Because without that, they’d literally become irrelevant. Influencers are the public.

          • Alessandro Barbosa

            November 16, 2018 at 10:39

            Public was let in last year for the first time. This year felt weird being there because Microsoft was in an entirely different building, and the year before EA just left. It’s strange now

          • Pariah

            November 16, 2018 at 10:50

            I’m a year behind it seems. Whoops. Thanks for that, lol. XD

          • Alessandro Barbosa

            November 16, 2018 at 10:37

            Gamescom is a much bigger public event, but it lost announcement relevancy years ago. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo host no conferences there anymore, and haven’t for a long time

          • Pariah

            November 16, 2018 at 10:52

            Right. Then why is it in my brain that’s where the announcements are happening? Is it just because that’s the only other event I can think of? O_o

            I’m out of touch, it seems.

    • Steffmeister

      November 16, 2018 at 15:44

      They don’t need to be at e3, they will win it without even attending.

      Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        November 16, 2018 at 16:11

        This mentality is EXACTLY why they don’t even bother with E3/Gamescom/PSX anymore, why they half arsed the Pro & the mini PS Classic console……you allow them to!

        Reply

        • Steffmeister

          November 19, 2018 at 09:55

          It was just ‘tongue in cheek’ 🙂 I’m on PC most of the time. Just have a PS4 for the exclusives. Some of them are really good. But Sony have shown everything ‘current gen’ already and I’m okay with that.

          Reply

          • Steffmeister

            November 19, 2018 at 10:01

            I agree on the Pro being Half arsed.

  3. Pieter Kruger

    November 16, 2018 at 08:13

    • JacoZAB

      November 16, 2018 at 08:20

      Oh and I guess you can play the Shakuhachi like a pro?

      Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        November 16, 2018 at 08:22

        Nope only this guy can…..and he was booked……hence Sony skipping E3 2019…….

        Reply

        • JacoZAB

          November 16, 2018 at 10:22

          LOL! Sad day for gaming

          Reply

    • BradeLunner

      November 16, 2018 at 12:09

      XD

      Reply

  4. Viper_ZA

    November 16, 2018 at 08:32

    Sony will most likely just do their own event/s anyway, so who cares? I don’t follow E3 anyway. CH has all the news I need 😉

    Reply

    • The D

      November 16, 2018 at 08:41

      LIES AND SLANDER. You take that back.

      Reply

      • Viper_ZA

        November 16, 2018 at 08:55

        No 😛

        Reply

  5. Pieter Kruger

    November 16, 2018 at 08:33

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