Sony has made it clear that the iconic gaming division of the company will no be at E3 2019 in any official capacity. The announcement specifically says that Sony will not host any kind of press conference or displays on the show floor. This marks the first time that the PlayStation platform holder has chosen to skip the show in its 24-year history.
Since the ESA first began hosting E3 in 1995, it’s gone through a lot of iterations and changes. The event has transitioned over time to be less of an exclusive press-focused event, to a much more open public spectacle. And this just seems to be the latest transition the event is going through, whether people like it or not.
Sony made the announcement today, saying that it continues to “look for inventive opportunities to engage the community.” The company is working to “innovate, think differently, and experiment with new ways to delight gamers,” with an eye towards moving beyond traditional announcement mediums and blazing the trail for new forms of gaming media.
The company is working on putting together some new plans to engage with the community and make fans excited about new games other related announcements. There aren’t any officially announced plans, but we do know that they won’t involve a traditional marketing and announcement heavy press event.
Speaking about their motivations and future plans, Sony had the following to say:
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.
And although it’s unclear exactly what Sony is planning, we can see this trend continuing in the future. Sony did recently cancel their Playstation Experience event this past year as well. So whatever the company is doing, it might be a huge announcement when they finally reveal what’s next for the Japanese company.
