For the first time since the trade show was founded 24 years ago, Sony are skipping E3 in 2019.
In a statement issued to Game Informer, the company said, “As the industry evolves, Sony Interactive Entertainment continues to look for inventive opportunities to engage the community. PlayStation fans mean the world to us and we always want to innovate, think differently and experiment with new ways to delight gamers. As a result, we have decided not to participate in E3 in 2019. We are exploring new and familiar ways to engage our community in 2019 and can’t wait to share our plans with you.”
While it’s surprising in some ways, it also makes a lot of sense. After several years of widely praised, announcement heavy press conferences at E3, this year’s edition instead focussed on prior announcements that would be coming to market within (we assume) the next twelve months. The same dearth of new content has also seemed to lead to Sony deciding not to host their own PlayStation Experience events, which debuted four years ago as a celebration of PlayStation’s 20th anniversary.
Reading between the lines, and with the company admitting that they are working on new hardware, it seems that their focus has shifted to laying the foundations for the next generation. If that’s the case and the console is now due out in 2019, then a simple lack of new things to talk about may have pushed Sony to take a step away from E3. Alternatively, they’re seeing that E3 doesn’t give them the same amount of the spotlight that they would get through hosting their own events, as in PSX and as Nintendo do with their regular Nintendo Direct streams (though the company does still attend E3 without a press conference).
Either way, E3 2019 seems like it will be a poorer show without the tussle for superiority between Microsoft and Sony, relying instead on third parties to bring the excitement of new games.
Source: Game Informer
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Not even attending with booths? That’s a massive step!
Well, I don’t have to watch E3 2019 then.
They’ll be doing their own event either just before or just after E3 where they will announce the PS5 and PSVR2….. Well that’s what I’m hoping for.
If the PS5 was coming next year, they’d be at E3. Even if they announced it earlier, or were going to announce it just after E3.
Late 2020 seems more likely now. 7 years after the PS4 launched, which was 7 years after the PS3.
That fits what they’ve previously said doesn’t it? In their financial statements.
There’s a possibility they might do something later in 2019 since it’ll be 25 years since the PS1 launched in Japan.
E3 2020 will be full of PS5 stuff though. Seems pretty certain. I’d be surprised if the PS5 was available to buy by that point though.
MS announcing a new XBox with whatever name they go for at E3 next year, launching next November, with Sony dropping massive hints about mysterious new hardware they won’t name but everyone knows is a PS5 around the same time, and the PS5 finally appearing in 2020. Sounds like the best option.
Nobody really wants a PS5 just yet, do they? RDR2 will last me until 2020 at this rate. There are still people I haven’t shouted “Hey Mister!” at.
I’m quite happy to wait until 2020 for the PS5 as I’m very happy with the Pro but I hope we don’t have to wait as long after the console launch for the 2nd gen PSVR as we did for the original.
Sony have mentioned they’re working on the PS5 but I cannot remember them saying they are working on a successor for the PSVR but they must be, especially as they’ve licensed the original to Lenovo.
I interpret this the other way – the PS5 is coming in 2019 and they want a dedicated event to announce it, rather than having to share headlines with everyone else. I wouldn’t be surprised if early next year they announce a date for some sort of event for a month or so after E3.
If the PS5 was coming next year, Sony could possibly announce it before E3. But then they’d want to show it off at E3 that same year. It doesn’t make any sense not to.
If they were going to announce it after E3 and still release in 2019, that runs a risk of not going so well. Likely to get leaked before the announcement (kind of hard to hide millions of PS5s being made and moved around). And what if MS announce something new at E3 (which seems likely)? Then MS get all the excitement about new hardware, and Sony are left standing there a month or 2 later going “Guys! We made a thing too! Look!”
No, I think not being at E3 2019 means no PS5 in 2019.
Late 2020 seems more likely, with either an announcement at E3, or an earlier announcement and heavy E3 presence. Or possibly an announcement at their own event late in 2019 and a release in the first half of 2020.
Actually, would a September 2019 announcement make sense? 25 years since the PS1 launched (in Japan). Celebrate that, announce they’ve sold 100m PS4s and say “Oh, and we’ve got a PS5 coming in March. More on that in December when we do that thing we didn’t do in 2018”.
As for PSVR2, is there a need to rush to get that out? If the current PSVR works on a PS5, the extra power could solve a lot of issues. Maybe release some new controllers and then a PSVR2 can come later? A new headset launching with the PS5 after just 4 years (3 if the unlikely 2019 release happens) might be pushing it a bit.
I know there’s a lot of people who think “Yes, VR is great but could be so much better” and want a new headset right now, but do they want to risk a new, probably more expensive (or PSVR launch price) headset so soon? Might put people off thinking “an even newer one will come along soon”. Or stick with the current version at even cheaper prices and say “it’s even better on a PS5”? You can pick them up for £200 at the moment, and they could be even cheaper by the time the PS5 comes along. The current PSVR for £100 when the PS5 arrives could sell silly amounts.
The thing is as soon as they announce it, sales of the PS4 will drop dead, hence I think it will be quite a short period between announcement and release.
Surely if it was a 2020 release, they would still show up to E3 2019 and show off some of the final games for the PS4 for that final year?
It’s a shame for E3, as there will be a lot less to watch, but sometimes it’s good to break old habits. And I’m sure they’ll come up with their own event.
Superiority was never really a question this gen, as MS gave the answer to that early on.
2019 would be very early for the PS5. But then, with it fully playing all PS4 games, to keep the current player base, there would be a much smoother shift to the next gen, which in turn they could start earlier. Let’s see.
It just won’t be E3 without staying up after 2am to watch the Sony conference. Gonna be interesting to see what they do instead though, a PS5 announcement does seem likely in that timeframe.