Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the long-standing and iconic annual showcase event for games, returns this year after four years since the last in-person show. E3 2023 will take place June 13-16 in Los Angeles. With new organizers at the helm, the event will see major changes from the long-established format, but players can still expect the usual from E3 – new announcements, trailers, gameplay showcases and more for upcoming and unannounced games. However, according to one report, E3 2023 will not showcase the industry’s big three. Sony, Xbox and Nintendo will reportedly skip the summer event, a development that could dampen excitement around the return of the sacred gaming convention.
A report in IGN says that gaming giants Sony, Xboxand Nintendo will not be part of E3 2023, which is scheduled to take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in June this year. Xbox already has Confirmed that the company will host a standalone showcase event in Los Angeles this summer. Xbox’s annual Summer Showcase offers an in-depth look at bethesda game studios starfieldalongside other upcoming first-party games.
The Xbox Showcase will reportedly take place around the same time as E3 for the sake of simplicity. Nintendo, on the other hand, announced its games itself Nintendo Direct events for years, but is present at E3 in the form of a stand. Even that won’t happen this year, according to the IGN report. The same goes for Sony; PlayStation had withdrawn E3 2019 over disagreements, and it remains unclear if the company will return to showcase its games at E3 2023. Neither Nintendo nor Sony have officially confirmed their plans for the event or similar showcases.
A no-show for the three biggest players in gaming is likely to negatively impact the excitement surrounding the event. E3 itself is in a period of transition, with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the event for the past three years. The last in-person E3 event was in 2019, with the 2020 convention being canceled due to the pandemic. E3 2021 was an online-only event with virtual conferences to announce new games. Last year, E3 2022 was complete canceled again, with the expectation of working towards an orderly and safe return to in-person events in 2023.
