This should be the party of video games. After four years of absence and cancellation, E3, the great annual mass of video games, signs its return next June in Los Angeles (June 13-16) in a format that mixes industry professionals and a large audience. But according to IGNthis could be done without the main players in the sector.
On Monday night, the American specialized media announced that Microsoft, PlayStation and Nintendo had decided to ignore the event. “They will not be part of E3 2023 nor will they have a presence at the Convention Center show,” the site explains. In and of itself, this isn’t entirely a surprise, even if it does make the quote a bit less haughty.
A return of E3… as before
During the last physical editions, PlayStation had simply declined the invitation to hold an (expensive) booth at the venue and, over time, no longer even organized a pre-event conference, as was traditional. . Nintendo had set up a large stand in the colors of Mario and his friends in particular, or of legend Of Zelda Breath Of The Wild, during the last meetings, but above all to satisfy the non-professional visitors now authorized during the last years of the fair. For a long time, the Japanese giant had relied on its Nintendo Direct online conference on the morning of the opening.
The case of Xbox remains. Like its great rival, Microsoft’s gaming branch has been gradually withdrawing from E3 2023… but to settle less than 100 meters from the Los Angeles Convention Center, in the Microsoft Theater located next door. This is where the American manufacturer held its conferences just before the show and its events, especially for fans and the press, during the same days. Two steps finally and at the same time.
Summer Game Fest on the prowl
the announcement ofIGN In short, nothing really surprising. If the three main players in the industry are not present at the fair, thus avoiding the very high costs necessary for their presence, this in no way means that they will miss the summer event. And they could, like the years before Covid, make an appearance in another way, while enjoying the time of media and public exposure. Last week, following its Developer_Direct event with Bethesda, Xbox indicated that it would return to Los Angeles for its annual conference. It would be surprising to postpone this when press and gamers could flock to the Californian city in June, and when year-end game announcements could be numerous, especially with its blockbuster. star field.
A meeting organized by a large US body (the Entertainment Software Association) without its main local game player would obviously look bad, even in difficult times of budget constraints at Microsoft.
But another troublemaker is also disrupting plans for E3 2023: Geoff Keighley. shortly after thatIGN released his information about E3, the former journalist and now organizer of video game events announced the conference of his Summer Game Fest for Thursday, June 8 at the YouTube Theater, that is, before the weekend during which they usually start the first conferences of E3.
And he had also hinted that he could hold a physical meeting next door “to reveal the future of the video game industry.” Enough to allow Nintendo, PlayStation and other Xboxes to have the choice of kings who to call as an important meeting in June.
Source: BFM TV
