A spokesperson from Sony Interactive Entertainment has confirmed that there will be no PlayStation press conference at the E3 expo later this year. This will be the second consecutive year that Sony has opted to skip the traditional E3 press conference in favor of hosting their own event. This is somewhat surprising news as Sony will release the next-gen PS5 video game console during the 2020 holiday shopping season.
A statement from SIE was sent to the fine folks over at GamesIndustry.biz and is quoted below:
“After thorough evaluation SIE has decided not to participate in E3 2020,” said a Sony Interactive Entertainment spokesperson. “We have great respect for the ESA as an organization, but we do not feel the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year.
“We will build upon our global events strategy in 2020 by participating in hundreds of consumer events across the globe. Our focus is on making sure fans feel part of the PlayStation family and have access to play their favorite content. We have a fantastic line up of titles coming to PlayStation 4, and with the upcoming launch of PlayStation 5, we are truly looking forward to a year of celebration with our fans.”
Older gamers may remember that Sony attended the very first E3 expo way back in 1995 to promote the original PlayStation console. During a keynote address former PlayStation boss Steve Race effectively pulled the rug from under the feet of former employer Sega by announcing a $299 USD price for Sony’s fledgling console. Sony had consistently been a major presence during E3 expos over the years until 2019 when they declined to hold a press conference. One of the most infamous moments in the history of E3 press conferences was in 2013 when they announced that the PS4 would have no system level DRM measures. This was in stark contrast to Microsoft’s initial proposal of requiring daily online check-ins with their Xbox One console.
In lieu of a traditional E3 press conference Sony will instead attend other consumer expos as well as holding their own events such as the upcoming Experience PlayStation.
This move is not exactly unprecedented for a console manufacturer. Nintendo has not hosted an E3 press conference in years in favor of their own Treehouse events.
It seems that the Electronics Software Association – the organization behind the E3 expo – is struggling to find an identity for the event. Traditionally E3 served as a way for video game makers to connect with retailers and media. Companies like Sony would like to see E3 press conferences evolve into something moore oriented towards fans.
In other PS4 news, we have seen two new character highlights for Trials of Mana.
