E3 is planning a large-scale comeback for the summer, with the fair open to industry professionals, press and consumers for the first time since 2019. However, the event will be without the big three – Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo – if we are to believe a report from IGN.
The website has spoken to several sources who are said to be familiar with the plans. They say that the console makers will neither have presentations directly linked to E3 nor stand on the exhibition floor.
The absence of PlayStation does not come as a bombshell. The company was last at E3 in 2018, and has since held its own presentations. Microsoft moved away from the exhibition floor and into its own premises in 2018, but was still part of E3.
The Xbox manufacturer has admittedly said that there will be a presentation of games from Los Angeles this summer. This will be held at the same time as E3, 13-16. June, but is an independent event unrelated to the fair.
As far as Nintendo is concerned, the Japanese company was a permanent fixture on the show floor right up until covid put a stop to the festivities in 2020. Without any of the big three, excitement around E3 is likely to weaken, industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls told IGN.
The website further reports that several game companies will wait to see what E3 2023 turns out to be. Communication from ReedPop, which took over as organizer last year, has reportedly been lacking until now, which the company acknowledged in a statement.
It is also part of the story that Summer Game Fest, organized by The Game Awards founder Geoff Keighley, will have its own fair in Los Angeles in June.
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