Sony Wont Be at E3 2019

[Mavrick]

Sony Interactive Entertainment, currently riding high on record sales of its PlayStation 4 gaming console won’t be hosting its annual press conference or showing up at all during next year’s massive E3 expo.

The news was buried inside the Entertainment Software Association’s announcement of the 2019 show.

This will be the first time in E3’s 24-year history that PlayStation will not be attending the event, it is also the second major PlayStation event canceled by the company in recent months.

In September, Shawn Layden, chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, said the company wouldn’t be hosting this year’s PlayStation Experience citing a lack of games to show.

“Now that we have ‘Spiderman’ out the door, we’re looking down in 2019 to games like ‘Dreams’ and ‘Days Gone’ but we wouldn’t have enough to bring people altogether in some location in North America to have that event,” Layden said.”We don’t want to set expectations really high and then not deliver on it.”

PlayStation Experience started four years ago as a celebration for PlayStation’s 20th anniversary as a way to “bring fans together” for a consumer event, according to Layden. The event expanded over the next few years as a place to give news updates. This year, though Layden expressed that “we have a lot of progress that we’re making in our games” but also that there’s not much to share at this point for upcoming titles.

The same could be true for E3 2019, though that does raise concerns about the PlayStation 4 itself and a potential lack of upcoming titles.

The timing also comes just a month after Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida confirmed that a successor to the PlayStation 3 is going to happen.

“At this point, what I can say is it’s necessary to have a [sic] next-generation hardware,” Yoshida stated. Yoshida declined to confirm whether or not the next PlayStation console will be called the “PlayStation 5,” which seems like the natural choice.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/pla...e3-2019.81233/

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

The timing also comes just a month after Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida confirmed that a successor to the PlayStation 3 is going to happen.

Yeah, it was called the PS4.

Not surprising. These things are expensive. I'd much rather they all go the Direct style format.

[Mavrick]

Pretty surprising news. I wonder how this plays in to their next gen strategy?

Couple thoughts,

A) They will be holding their own shows next year. Maybe they will even be in LA during E3 but holding their own show totally separate to the main convention hall.

B) They won't be ready to show anything next gen related by the time E3 rolls around and based on them cancelling PSX this year due to not having anything new to announce I'm guessing all of their big hitting unannounced games are going to be PS5 focused. So holding an E3 show without any games to reveal is obviously not going to happen.

C) They will just announce things as and when they like throughout the year, Giving each announcement its own spotlight so that it doesn't get overshadowed like Nintendo does.

Very strange all around though whatever the case may be. If they were revealing the PS5 pre E3 then you would expect they would have a lot to talk about at E3. So not being at E3 makes me think they night not be revealing anything until the second half of next year.

But still, no Booth and no Conference. E3 is gonna hurt 2019. It will pretty much be the MS Show since Nintendo are pretty much non existent there too.

[Mavrick]

Gameinformer:

The history of the Electronic Entertainment Expo is as long as it is circuitous. The annual event has traditionally brought the entire gaming industry together as developers and publishers fight for attention both on and off the show floor through announcements, trailers, and pomp and circumstance. The displays of grandeur have ebbed and flowed over the course of E3's soon-to-be 25-year history, with different companies occasionally reconsidering the extent of their involvement in the show. Now one of its biggest players, Sony, has decided that PlayStation will not be attending E3 in 2019.

“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.”

When asked if Sony would push its event off-site, similar to how Electronic Arts provides a show adjacent to E3, PlayStation senior vice president of communications Jennifer Clark elaborated further saying, "We will not activate or hold a press conference around E3."

Sony's withdrawal from E3 likely comes as a disappointment to fans that look forward to the company's stage show as a centerpiece for the expo as a whole. From huge announcements like Spider-Man and Horizon: Zero Dawn to tense, on-stage demos like The Last of Us, Sony has always brought a certain flair to the show. The press conference battle between Microsoft and Sony, especially once Nintendo changed to a video format, is often the talk of E3.

The announcement comes after Sony declined to hold their annual fan event called PlayStation Experience, or PSX, this year, which usually takes place in the first two weeks of December. Sony Interactive Entertainment chairman Shawn Layden said at the time that there simply was not enough to show this year, a problem that fans also pointed out during the previous year's more low-key event.

The official statement suggests that Sony plans to engage the community in other events. Does this mean Sony will be reviving the currently shuttered PlayStation Experience? "We are looking at events as a whole and how we can speak more to our fans and continue to wow them. The timing of PSX and E3 didn't allow for that," Clark replied. "But lots of exciting things to come, and we hope to share shortly. Some of our biggest games will have key milestones next year so we will work hard to blow those up."

The Entertainment Software Association, or ESA, has hosted E3 since its inception in 1995. The trade association is made up of the video game industry's largest and most notable publishers, including Sony Interactive Entertainment, and has recently made moves to transition E3 from less of an industry event to a fan-inclusive one. We reached out to the ESA about Sony's announcement, and were informed they plan to release a statement later today.

What do you think about Sony pulling away from E3 in 2019? Does it change your view of the show? Let us know below in the comments.

Andy McNamara provided additional reporting for this article.

https://www.gameinformer.com/2018/11...ing-e3-in-2019

[professorwho]

Wow. Add in Sony being a$$holes in regards to censorship, banning visual novel ports, AND the crossplay stuff... I might switch next gen or year or whatever.

If the PS5 is a streaming box, I'm going Xbox Two.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Wow. Add in Sony being a$$holes in regards to censorship, banning visual novel ports, AND the crossplay stuff... I might switch next gen or year or whatever.

If the PS5 is a streaming box, I'm going Xbox Two.

Back away from the ledge please.

[Steelmaker]

This is just....weird! My guess is Sony is prepping to put it's full weight behind PS5 and that's what all their studios are working on. Hence there's nothing new to show next year for PS4. However it also tells me there's no way in hell PS5 is coming in 2019, as I just cant see Sony skipping an opportunity to promote it.

[Jonno2009]

The days of big surprises in conferences are gone anyways. And the games nowadays are so big and expansive that they takes YEARS to make so to announce something only to delay 3-4 times isn't worth having a big expensive press conference. And in our current 24 hours news system almost everything is always leaked somehow.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

This is just....weird! My guess is Sony is prepping to put it's full weight behind PS5 and that's what all their studios are working on. Hence there's nothing new to show next year for PS4. However it also tells me there's no way in hell PS5 is coming in 2019, as I just cant see Sony skipping an opportunity to promote it.

Now that I think about it it’s very strange to have no presence at this or have their own event.

I’m going to run with your thought for a bit and have a conspiracy theory. Historically they’ve had no problem (nor anybody else) showing games early and then we see the same games for the next 2-3 shows. Why all the sudden stop showing PS4 games we assumed were coming out next year? Maybe they’re all coming to PS5 now and there’s no cross gen in their plans. But they’re not ready to announce the PS5 yet as PS4 sales are still strong.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by dyne

Now that I think about it it’s very strange to have no presence at this or have their own event.

I’m going to run with your thought for a bit and have a conspiracy theory. Historically they’ve had no problem (nor anybody else) showing games early and then we see the same games for the next 2-3 shows. Why all the sudden stop showing PS4 games we assumed were coming out next year? Maybe they’re all coming to PS5 now and there’s no cross gen in their plans. But they’re not ready to announce the PS5 yet as PS4 sales are still strong.

We've seen The Last of Us part 2 three times now. Theres no point in showing it again. Same with Death Stranding. How many trailers now have they released for that? We've seen Ghost of Tsushima twice. We know what Dreams is about. It would be stupidly redundant to showcase those games yet again at a major event. Sony might drop new trailers for these games, but that's it.

The more I think about it, the more clear it becomes. The games that we know about that's coming to PS4...that's it! Everything else that Sony studios are working on is clearly for PS5. I think Sony knows they're going to have a fight on their hands from MS next gen and they are gearing up to have a formidable launch lineup. The next time Sony takes a public stage, it's going to be to talk about PS5.

[Mr. Chaverria]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Wow. Add in Sony being a$$holes in regards to censorship, banning visual novel ports, AND the crossplay stuff... I might switch next gen or year or whatever.

If the PS5 is a streaming box, I'm going Xbox Two.

[Dirk504]

Last year's presentation was meh anyway. Plus we already know the exclusives they're closing out the PS4 with.

I'm ready for the PS5 anyway. I hope that leaked information is accurate.

[Havok83]

Good. E3 is outdated and a relic of the past

[R3P0]

Im going to guess its a cost cutting measure. The tariffs are hitting everyone hard

[Mavrick]

They released the map of the 2019 hall

[Zivouhr]

I look forward to the open world announced games from 3rd party developers, but it'll be interesting without Sony involved. That stinks.

But I agree, that if they're holding off on everything, it could mean they are planning to reveal the PS5 news by 2019's E3.

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

I look forward to the open world announced games from 3rd party developers, but it'll be interesting without Sony involved. That stinks.

But I agree, that if they're holding off on everything, it could mean they are planning to reveal the PS5 news by 2019's E3.

No there not going to be at 2019 think you meant 2020

[Havok83]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

They released the map of the 2019 hall

Why do they even have Konami listed there? The joke falls flat with that

[Derb]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

They released the map of the 2019 hall

Lmao

They will be there.

[dyne]

Because Konami hates games?