In perhaps another setback for E3 2023, Nintendo and Playstation have both annouced that they will not be attending. The VGC announced the news yesterday and can confirm that the two gaming giants have officially chosen to skip E3 this year.
According to Nintendo, they have decided to skip E3 2023 due to the fact that they don’t have enough to show, and not enough to justify a physical space. This is not entirely true, as Nintendo have plenty of games that they could be showcasing, and it’s much more likely that they can rely on their own Nintendo Direct to get the word out about their new games. And Nintendo have enjoyed record-breaking success with their newest Metroid game last year, Metroid Dread.
Sony haven’t been at E3 since 2018, so their absence is not surprising, but still suggests something about the value that E3 provides to companies, in that they aren’t interested in coming back. Nintendo’s absence is worrying, as if they follow PlayStation in their total absence, they might stay away forever.
Beginning of the end for E3?
As we spoke about in a previous article, industry changes mean that video game companies aren’t seeing physical events as a priority, and have also decided to branch out on their own. The combination of Covid-19 and the shift in content consumption has meant that physical events have taken a huge hit, and companies looked to where costs could be cut.
A spokesperson for ReedPop (the company organising the event) said to VGC that they have “the biggest companies in the industry” interested in their event, and are confident that the event will be a success.
When is Summer Game Fest?
Summer Game Fest will be on June 8th 2023, just one week before E3, which must have E3 concerned about drawing away all the hype for game announcements.
It was created by Geoff Keighley as a remedy to all the cancellations around Covid, showing its resilience as an event, and the ability to create hype very quickly.
Will Xbox be at E3 2023?
E3 has not yet announced which publishers will attend the event, so at this point it is only speculation. And not until E3 2023 kicks off will we know the true success of the event, and what the future looks like.
Stay posted on our News section for more E3 updates.
