This was certainly unexpected. For the first time in the show’s 24 year history, Sony will not attend E3. As reported on by Game Informer:
“As the industry evolves, Sony Interactive Entertainment continues to look for inventive opportunities to engage the community,” the company told Game Informer in a statement. “PlayStation fans mean the world to us and we always want to innovate, think differently and experiment with new ways to delight gamers. As a result, we have decided not to participate in E3 in 2019. We are exploring new and familiar ways to engage our community in 2019 and can’t wait to share our plans with you.”
When asked if Sony would push its event off-site, similar to how Electronic Arts provides a show adjacent to E3, PlayStation senior vice president of communications Jennifer Clark elaborated further saying, “We will not activate or hold a press conference around E3.”
We will report more details from Sony or publishers as this evolves.
Our Take
E3 originated as a trade show and has grown into the largest spectacle in gaming every year. After SG attended for the first time this year, we were truly amazed. That said, E3’s importance in relation to the industry itself is seemingly lessening each year so maybe Sony is moving an entirely new direction. That said, it does seem rather peculiar that there was no PSX in 2018 and now no E3 in 2019 for Sony. All we can do now is wait to see what they do for fans.
