The big three console manufacturers might not be at E3 2023, but this isn’t completely bad news for gaming fans. Reports are claiming that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are all forgoing this year’s E3 presentation in favor of their own livestream showcases, which could be yet another blow to the long-troubled Electronic Entertainment Expo that was once a must-see staple of the gaming community. Since its inception in 1997, E3 has been a blockbuster venue for companies large and small to show off their projects in front of a live crowd.
However, E3 has fallen into challenging times in recent years, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the last few events to be either canceled or shifted to a virtual-only format. Even before that, big-name publishers like Sony and EA have decided to skip the past few E3s, and the advent of other gaming livestream events like Summer Game Fest and Nintendo Direct have left fans wondering if E3 is even needed in this day and age. Indeed, E3 is arguably becoming less relevant with each ing year, and the so-called big three seemingly abandoning the event isn't a promising development.
There’s An Upside To The Latest E3 2023 News
While it might be sad to see E3 2023 carry on without big announcements from Nintendo, Sony, or Xbox - as is being reported by Direct specifically for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is expected prior to the Breath of the Wild sequel's May release.
Nintendo Direct, Xbox Showcase, & PlayStation State Of Play Are Better Than E3
These more focused livestreams may lack the scale and pageantry of the annual E3, but they are superior to the live, onstage June expo conferences in many ways. E3s tend to be crowded and overstuffed, while designated events like Nintendo Direct are more streamlined and to the point. While E3 takes an entire week to get through its many announcements, a PlayStation State of Play or Xbox Showcase can drum up excitement for the latest PS5 or Xbox Series X games in the span of a few hours.
Also, these livestreams are often focused solely on games set to release sometime in the foreseeable future, in contrast to how E3 often seems to leave publishers pressured to show off their entire slate of projects - even those that are nowhere near their eventual launch date. An infamous example of this would be the gameplay-free Elder Scrolls 6 teaser from E3 2018, which was exciting at the time but has since led to a long drought of new information that could have been mitigated had Bethesda chosen to wait until it was ready to unveil it.
While there’s no official confirmation of Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft skipping E3 2023, it seems likely that the latter two will forgo it given Microsoft’s rumored June Xbox Showcase and Sony not appearing at E3 since 2019. Luckily, all three of the main console makers have proven that they can drive up excitement for their systems’ games without the help of E3, so their potential no-showing at E3 2023 might not be such a bad thing after all.
Sources: IGN, Bethesda Softworks/YouTube