Sony will not be attending E3 this year, something that Sony’s Shawn Layden recently made some remarks on, including discussing the changing nature of the industry, and how E3 hasn’t necessarily evolved to keep up with it. At the time, I wondered whether or not that meant that Sony may simply choose to skip E3 entirely going forward.
However, in an interview with Game Informer, Layden discussed how Sony is in discussions with the Entertainment Software Association (ESA, the organizers of E3) regarding turning E3 into a consumer facing show, and how there is still a chance for Sony to return to it next year.
“If we jump from the trade show thing to the consumer show… I do think the bridge will appear,” he said. “We did PSX, we didn’t know what that was going to be like. We did it for the 25th anniversary of PlayStation, but we got lucky. If you build it, they will come. That’s the conversation we’re having in real time right now with the ESA. Just because PlayStation is not at E3 2019 doesn’t mean we won’t be there in 2020.”
I do believe that, regardless of whatever ideological differences or reasons Sony may have, they will probably return to E3 next year. Next year is when the PS5 will allegedly be launching—surely they will want to be at the biggest event in the industry to strut their wares.