According to a report on IGN, format holders Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will not be attending E3 2023, which is the first physical event for the long-running video games show in four years thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Not only will the PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch console makers not be hosting their own press conferences like old times, but won’t even have any kind of presence on the show floor at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. While Microsoft has confirmed it will host an annual summer shows in LA this year, it didn’t say if the would be part of E3 2023.
All three format holders have not issued any comment regarding their reported absence at E3, although ReedPop did issue the following statement regarding the event:
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.