PlayStation will ignore E3 this year. The console manufacturer noted that the format of the event does not fit into its promotion strategy.
At the end of 2020, Sony will launch the next—generation console – the PlayStation 5. The company has traditionally presented the previous devices of this line and games for them at E3 since 1995. The announcement of the PlayStation 4 at E3 2013 was so successful that it allowed Sony to bypass the Xbox and regain leadership in the console market.
But this year Sony will promote its big product at other events, writes Gamesindustry.biz . She expects to take part in “hundreds” of conferences and presentations, but not at E3 2020.
A Sony Interactive Entertainment spokesperson said: “SIE has made a thorough assessment and has decided not to participate in E3 2020. We respect (the E3 host) ESA as an organization, but we believe that E3 2020 with its vision is not suitable for what we want to focus on this year.”
Note that Sony missed E3 last year for the first time in the history of the exhibition. Even then, the company’s management stated that the format of the exhibition was no longer interesting to it.
In recent years, a number of companies have questioned the importance of E3 as the largest industrial exhibition. Some publishers (for example, Electronic Arts and Sony) consider E3 as a “holiday for gamers”. Others want to see it as a serious event for game development professionals.
It seems that the repeated refusal of such a large company as Sony from E3 is an important signal for ESA. But there is another opinion: now PlayStation is too strong a brand for the announcement at E3 to significantly affect the promotion of the new console. According to the Gamesindustry expert.biz Christopher Dring, Sony doesn’t necessarily have to spend a huge amount on E3. After all, the PS5 in any case will not remain without the attention of the relevant media.
Nevertheless, the main competitor of the PlayStation — Xbox — will appear at the exhibition. This has already been stated by the head of the company Phil Spencer (Phil Spencer). Recall that Microsoft will also release its Xbox Series X console by the end of the year.
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