Ever since ex-PlayStation boss Shawn Layden went hard on E3 a few years ago, Sony’s seemed to be dead against the convention. Now it’s pulled out of the show entirely for a second year running, the platform holder is beginning to twist the knife on organisers, the ESA. It’s unclear exactly what the issue is, but the manufacturer clearly doesn’t feel its vision aligns with the Los Angeles show.
A spokesperson explained: “We have great respect for the ESA as an organisation, but we do not feel the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year.”
It’s a strange one because, with PlayStation 5 about to launch, you’d think it would want the opportunity to get the product in front of as many potential players as possible – especially seeing as it plans to attend “hundreds” of other conventions. But E3 has become a strange beast; it still targets industry professionals, but this year will see 25,000 members of the public invited as well.
It just doesn’t feel like the show knows what it wants to be, and perhaps that’s why PlayStation has decided to give it a miss once more.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 12
Playstation 4 still has a lot to offer.
You can't sell floor space for trade show prices at a gaming convention venue. I don't blame Sony at all. Sony could do the reveal at the crossroads in Mississippi. As long as its live streamed everyone that would watch it at E3 will still see it.
@JohnKarnes Yeah, maybe the price isn't worth it for the views they're getting, if wired interview and instagram ps5 logo is enough to make sony news go viral, spending millions on one expensive shows is a waste of money.
I'm sure most of the big publishers want to pull out of E3 and do things their way. Sony's just the only one so far with the balls to actually do it.
There is a chance that Sony can upstage E3 and pull some of the hype away from it. They’ve done a little of that lately. Plus, all the arbitrary opinions of “Who won E3?” mumbo-jumbo isn’t a talking point if they aren’t there. I think if they are confident in their product, they can pull the press they need on their own.
@JohnKarnes good point because if they did decide to do it at the crossroads and things go bad they could always sell their souls to the devil. Definitely would be a win win imo. 😁
@JohnKarnes
I agree. People say they care about E3 while the reality is they only care about the streamed conferences (for most).
For my part I was fed up with the aspect 'which conference is better' that became somehow the most important aspect in the media. (Like some sticky dancing crap show thing haha... aaaah pushSquare 'pacing' appreciation haha)
good, so E3 can be easily ignored for me. i'm only interested in the sony conference anyway, and it was always on at 2am or something UK time, so i never watched it live anyway.
not sure E3 really does the industry that many favours to be honest, media has changed dramatically over the years. it's not like years ago where companies were able to keep games pretty much a secret and then have a big blow-out at E3. even if somebody did know a game was coming, it's not like it was widely distributed knowledge. these days, a rumour is followed by speculation, which is followed by a leak, followed by a corroboration, followed by an image, followed by an obscure store listing in uzbekistan or somewhere.. which has gone viral all over the interwebs, pretty much forcing a confirmation from publisher, that E3 becomes pretty anticlimatic.
I'll be watching both Sony and Microsoft i wasn't interested in xb1 or x1x but I've a tech geek and I always watch the Microsoft conference and this year I really want to know what hardware is in that x series console
I only have to watch a clip of clapping seals to get the real E3 experience.
microsoft and their non exclusive games xbox can have e3, both will not be missed.
Hope they show it in February.
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