Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft won't have major E3 2023 showcases

E3's first physical event in 4 years will be an exciting event, but there's one catch: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will not have major showcases at E3. IGN sources say that all three companies won't have an E3 presence on the show floor nor any big showcases. [Thanks, IGN!] To shed some perspective, the last physical E3 had Banjo Kazooie and Hero announced for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Microsoft has plans to host a separate showcase for press at a different time than E3. Nintendo and Sony have been moving more towards digital conferences, with Nintendo Directs and Sony's State of Play.

While representatives from Nintendo, Sony, Xbox, and ESA did not return IGN's request for comment by press time, ReedPop provided an official statement:

"E3 is such a significant event for the game industry and being entrusted with an important cultural touchstone is not a responsibility ReedPop takes lightly. Since ReedPop took on the contract to run E3 six months ago, we've worked diligently with ESA members based on their feedback to create a new type of E3 that supports their goals and needs.

This process has taken time due to the tremendous amount of stakeholders offering input, though we appreciate that we could have been more transparent to questions for which we were still finalizing the answers. We continue to work tirelessly to create a show that brings together the global gaming industry. We believe we’ve created a new format for the event that serves the needs of both the industry and its fans, and are committed to building and growing it in the coming years.

As we spent much of 2022 refining how E3 2023 would take shape, reflecting on the feedback we solicited, we did not send a single contract to an exhibitor until the start of this month. We have received a tremendous amount of interest and verbal commitments from many of the biggest companies in the industry, and when we are ready to announce the exhibitors we are confident it will be a lineup that will make the trip to Los Angeles well worth it for the industry and consumers alike."

Author's Note: Wow. E3 is going to certainly look different.

 

I hate hype culture so much, and E3 was always the worst of the lot.

 

Not gonna be a big deal. Even when E3 was cancelled, we still had a rush of announcements anyway.

 

I feel like this was inevitable ever since they cancelled the 2022 event instead of holding it online. If your event depends on hype it's probably not a good idea to stay out of the public's mind for a year. Doing so made it utterly irrelevant, and being the big relevant thing was E3's lifeblood. Doesn't help that the last couple of years have demonstrated that you don't need E3 to get huge numbers. There's like no real incentive for the companies to use E3 anymore. Why would you use it when you can just schedule your own presentation and get similar numbers?

 

I always liked it as it was something to look forward to in June. It was a nice way to kick off Sumer festivities. I will be sad to once again not get an E3 like the way it was before. It was easier to see what other companies were doing rather than memorize certain air dates or trailers or to hear about game news second hand. I liked the cohesiveness and the sense of community of gaming companies putting content out en masse like a collective effort.

 

I will admit it is nice to have one solitary event for practically all game companies, but I think COVID, the cancellation of the 2020 and 2022 events, and the uprising in streaming events such as Nintendo Directs have given companies the idea that E3 isn't really a necessity for them at this point. I really can't see E3 lasting much longer as a medium when less expensive/more effective alternatives are available for publishers.