Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to Give Up on E3

The E3 trade show is losing steam year after year, and this trend will apparently only accelerate, as reported by IGN, the 2023 event will not see Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, all major console manufacturers.

1. The companies have long been holding their own shows instead of conferences at E3. Until now, however, most of them have had a booth in the exhibition halls. In 2023, they supposedly abandoned this idea.
2. This is bad news for E3 organizers - this year's edition will be the first in four years to take a traditional physical form. The last few events were held only virtually because of the pandemic.
3. The pandemic, moreover, has significantly accelerated the giants' abandonment of large trade shows. Companies have learned that their own shows are at least as effective, so it's not surprising that they are not interested in spending money on booths at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

It's worth recalling that Sony had already let go of E3 in 2019. Nintendo had a booth that year, but game announcements took place during the Nintendo Direct stream. Microsoft, too, had been holding its own conferences outside the trade show halls for some time.

E3's hosts hoped that the return of the physical version of the trade show would be a success. To that end, they hired ReedPop, a company responsible for such events (such as Star Wars Celebration, New York Comic Con and PAX), to organize the event. Without the participation of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, however, it will be hard to restore E3 to its former glory.

Of course, all of these problems relate to the fair itself. We as gamers in June will have no reasons to complain, as each of these console manufacturers will hold extensive presentations, introducing upcoming games (Sony State of Play, Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase and Nintendo Direct).