Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are all skipping the revitalized E3 conference in June, in accordance with a brand new report from IGN. E3 might be again as an in-person convention in Los Angeles after not occurring in any respect in 2022, and I personally was hopeful that the massive three console makers could be on the present when it takes place from June thirteenth by sixteenth to assist make it really feel like the massive occasion of years previous. However in accordance with IGN’s reporting, that’s not the case.
That mentioned, it’s not solely sudden. Sony first skipped E3 in 2019 and hasn’t been a part of the conference since. Microsoft mentioned final week that it could be doing a showcase in LA this summer time however didn’t outright say the phrases E3. Nintendo has confirmed time and time once more that it might drive large information cycles with its can’t-miss Direct video shows, so it could not really feel the necessity to share the E3 highlight. And for the reason that present might be happening a couple of month after the discharge of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo might need to hold the eye of its followers on what could possibly be one of many greatest video games of the yr.
In a press release to The Verge, Kyle Marsden-Kish, Reedpop’s world VP of gaming, didn’t verify if the massive three console makers could be absent from the present. “ReedPop continues each day discussions with corporations of all sizes about their plans for the present,” Marsden-Kish mentioned. “We’re excited to quickly share details about the publishers, sport builders and different business gamers in regards to the artistic video games and progressive merchandise they plan to showcase to the business and to customers.”
Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony didn’t reply to requests for remark.
As E3 has grown smaller, different digital phases have sprung up for sport publishers to make their huge bulletins — most prominently, The Recreation Awards and the Summer season Recreation Fest, each hosted by Geoff Keighley. He spoke to us in 2022 about the place E3 does — or perhaps doesn’t — match into the gaming panorama. By the way, the Summer season Recreation Fest account simply tweeted that it’s going to even be returning on June eighth, just some days earlier than E3.
Replace January thirty first, 12:09PM ET: Added assertion from Reedpop.