Despite Launching PlayStation 5 This Year, Sony Will Skip E3 Again
January 13, 2020Sony will not attend E3, historically the most news-making event on the video game calendar, according to a statement released to GamesIndustry.biz. This is the same year Sony will launch PlayStation 5, making it an extremely important year for the company.
"After thorough evaluation SIE has decided not to participate in E3 2020," said a Sony Interactive Entertainment spokesperson to GamesIndustry.biz. "We have great respect for the ESA [Entertainment Software Association] 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."
The ESA has run E3 for more than 20 years, and is the same organization that accidentally doxed thousands of professionals last year, including many journalists, critics, and streamers.
Update: In response, the ESA released a brief statement called "ESA statement on Sony E3 2020 announcement" that somehow never manages to mention Sony by name:
"E3 is a signature event celebrating the video game industry and showcasing the people, brands and innovations redefining entertainment loved by billions of people around the world. E3 2020 will be an exciting, high-energy show featuring new experiences, partners, exhibitor spaces, activations, and programming that will entertain new and veteran attendees alike. Exhibitor interest in our new activations is gaining the attention of brands that view E3 as a key opportunity to connect with video game fans worldwide.”
Sony, which skipped E3 last year, said it has a “global events strategy” in place for the upcoming reveal and launch for PlayStation 5, which includes attending “hundreds” of other events around the world. Whether any of those events will coincide with the same week as E3 remains to be seen. Electronic Arts, for example, no longer formally attends E3 but holds a tentpole event simultaneously, trying to take advantage of the people in town for E3 itself.
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