MS, Nintendo, and Sony are skipping E3 2023! The end of an era for E3?

This comes from IGN: Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony Won't Be Part of E3 2023

I'll just keep this short. The Pandemic really hit hard on E3 for the past 3 years and from their, everyone from the gaming industry just did their own events through the power of digital media so makes sense to not spend money on E3 itself. Obviously we all know Sony was gonna skip E3 so no surprise from them but MS on the other hand always try supporting E3 but not this time. Does this news bothers you?

No. I've never been to an E3, and I wouldn't travel to another country just to go to it. All I care about is companies showing their new games, and that will continue just fine without E3.

Guess I'll at most miss the spectacle a bit, but no biggie.

Nope. Haven't cared about E3 in forever. Before seeing this thread, wouldn't be able to recall if it's still a thing.

Only real value is when I see people post cringe compilations later.

Well that definitely sucks. I love E3 and this news makes me sad. 😔

@ConanTheStoner: @Litchie: No argument their. E3 to me has been going downhill around 2017 and everyone doing their own events at anytime makes more sense in the matter of speaking.

Game awards is the new E3, and Ragnarok won six awards during the show. It is what it is.

Looks like MS is going to continue be at E3 in their own theater like they do every year.

I guess from a business standpoint, it’s easier, cheaper, and more effective to do a 30/40 minute video that they can control and edit as opposed to doing a live show and trying to make a spectacle out of it. Nevertheless, I really did enjoy thone moments when they tried surprised us. Sony used to do great E3s.

If that's the case, I expect them to show off more on Starfield which could be the main event.

@davillain:

Yeah man there was a time when I thought E3 was pretty hype. Can't even remember how long ago it's been now lol. At one point, attending E3 was something I really wanted to do. Now you'd have to pay me to go.

Just think a number of factors have dragged it down. Tons of trailers and announcements with no gameplay, for games that are likely years off. Big releases just move at a much slower pace than they used to, and I find most of the big games way less appealing these days. And then the fact that yeah, all these companies can now announce/show games on their own timetables. Makes way more sense, and makes E3 seem like an increasingly dated platform.

Seems more like a fading tradition at this point. One that's become a big hollow commercial for the most part, only having the occasional highlight here and there.

Don't worry, Ubisoft will still probably have a presence ther-LOLOLOLOLOL *SNORT*. Sorry

Watch for the cringe.

Signs of E3's death...

1. Nintendo Direct

2. The data leak exposing journalist privacy, making Geoff Keighley boycott them and found his own conference

3. Sony doing State of Play

4, Now... MS doing their own Developer Direct

A song for E3:

Once E3 had stopped being a convention (as originally intended) and become a multi-day infomercial for the major publishers, it lost its relevance. There is more to a gaming convention than announcements and spectacles. What about E3 as a place where industry figures can meet each other in-person, talk, and even exchange ideas? This human, personal, aspect cannot be done in a virtual E3.

We will have to see whether E3 will continue without the appearance of the three major publishers.

E3 was never a show for gamers, but for businesspeople. I went to E3 once, and all the best stuff was behind closed doors and you needed to make an appointment to see it.

That said, I did get to play PS Vita and WiiU six months before they came out, so that was nice.

Hey. There’s still a Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon, so maybe E3 will continue living too.

There isn’t much point of paying a media outlet for something you can put out yourself. E3 doesn’t reach more customers in any way, they are issueless middlemen now.

MS doesn't really need to pay to register for space at the Convention Center or pay to be part of the actual E3 event because they still own the theater across the street if they want a proxy live presence.

Though seems just doing a pre-assembled trailer playlist kind of event really is the most economic way to go about it. And with Covid concerns I can see vendors having issues getting people to commit far ahead of time.

Maybe the only real benefit is for companies like Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo to influence peddle with developers and the press and so on, networking, etc. Seems the people who will lose out most are people who like attending these events because they are fun to go to. For those that don't attend, the meat of these events is the game trailers and gameplay demonstrations, whether they update us on a game's development and release schedule, and to surprise us with newly debuted games. That's still happening.

I've said it before, though I know devs hate making vertical slices demos for events when it eats into their development time and resources. But if they make them, modern streaming technology with Game Pass and PS Plus and so on, they could make some of that stuff accessible to players for the limited duration of these events, to get people to tune in. Someone should try that, the opportunity is ripe for making waves doing this.

I thought E3 was a waste of time as usually either Sony or Nintendo steals the show and it's just better for publishers provide news all year round. But now that the event is dead I kinda miss the war it's always a good time duking it out in system wars.

The last real e3 really was like 2018. 2019 was really bad, 2020 didnt have it because of covid and 2021 was really bad and last year bad or didnt have it dont quite remember. I miss e3 was like the super bowl of video games and I hate sony marketing now days of drip feading and nintendo and there randomness but I know now days e3 is also not really need when you can just randomly drop info of on like YouTube and such.

Back in the old days, E3 was the coolest thing around. Nowadays I guess we will just watch Microsoft/Sony shows on youtube. It makes me a bit sad.

As long as Ubisoft is there I don't care what happens to the rest. Ubisoft don't you dare try to back out or else how would I get my laughs.

Haven't been to one since 2001. Doubt it'll ever be as good as then.

Well that sucks.

That's sad to hear about. All the console makers are not going to be involved with this year's E3.

Man, I remember when E3 was the biggest time of the year if you were a gamer. The fanfare, the horrible game reporters who were ridiculously hot. The horrible presentations.

I thought E3 was done with a year or so ago, hence why we have those Summer Award shows, etc, etc, etc.

The one cool thing about E3 was that it was almost guaranteed we'd hear exciting news about games in the summer. It was consistent. Now we're going to get slow dribbles of news throughout the year. It won't be consistent either.

Time to shine a light on interesting indie games;

I think PC gaming show always did a nice job of shining a light on all sorts of games and all sorts of genres. But it was just way too damn long. Maybe they should split it into several shows covering different genres:

ie Simulation, strategy, shooter, ...

Well, if Starfield is still H1 2023, then that would be pretty late.

The big game companies are sort of free riders. They should contribute to E3 a bit. Maybe not the huge monters like usual but a small booth.

Now they want to take a free ride on the E3 train sort of. They want to be there with their own shows near E3.

I don't see why it would bother most people since most on here haven't been to one of these conferences. Now the ball is in E3 hands to redefine the event. Maybe focus more on smaller developers.

Back in the day E3 was great, lots of news/first looks gave you an idea about what was coming out and when, but you probably need to go as far back as 2015 to find the last real standout show.

I can understand them moving to a digital-only event where they can expect sufficient publicity despite lower costs and flexible schedules. Nevertheless, E3 has a name value and tradition that is too good to disappear, and there is a good chance that it will continue to exist as a local, mid-sized gaming convention like PAX East, Gamescom, or TGS.

Well, I know this is confusing, but MS does not actually own or operate the Microsoft Theater. They just pay for the naming rights to it. A quick Google search will tell you that it is AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), not MS, that actually owns and operates the theater.

I never said they "owned" it. It's like any other venue that is sponsored. In this case, Microsoft holds their own events at the MIcrosoft Theater (which is a theater that is sponsored by Microsoft). They own the naming rights of the theater for a contracted period of time, which then at the end of the contract, others can bid to the naming rights.

But glad you came to the pony rescue!

@kvallyx: Oh, that's what you meant. Then that's fine.

I've seen comments from time to time that people misunderstand that MS has its own theater venue (i.e., MS rents its theater to TGA), so I wrote it for their benefit as well.

All good in the hood!

Even ten years ago or so E3 was losing its luster. Sure it was still fun to watch and quite anticipated but it wasn't as it used to be years before the internet evolved into leaks and game drops ahead of the program. Far too many people laughed when Nintendo decided to forgo a live show for a prerecorded segment but look at how the others have followed.

bet 99.9% of games shown will be 2d indie games that can run on calculator let alone mobile.

Awww. E3 was always a good time for getting the ol list together. Not too surprised they are not bothering but still.....aww. And who doesn't love a good ol megaton?

...That leaves more time for the E3 PC Gaming show so....woohoo 6 hours of announcements :D. Right?.....Right?

Only good thing about E3 last year was learning Gordie Laforge had a hot daughter.

An obsolete relic of the 90s struggling to stay relevant in the 21st century. News at 11.

Can't say I blame the big 3 for pulling out. E3 is just way expensive when it comes paying for a booth and doing your own thing at home is free money and not to mention you don't need to worry about critical infos leaking to the public so having that under control is what E3 fails to do. Covid-19 just made it easier for every major game publishers to pull out of E3. At least Summer Game Fest will save the day.

Back in the day, it was my Christmas. Come home after work and download all the conferences, then veg-out for a few hours. It was like going to the carnival, with all the buzz and excitement. The live show, and the potential for tragedy was what made it entertaining.

Now it's a sterile, packaged, 20 minute video every 4-6 months, that consistently underwhelms. And I absolutely hate it. I would rather them do nothing, than what they are doing.