Many had their brows knitted when Sony announced that the PlayStation brand would not be participating at E3 2019. It's the company's first absence in over two decades. Imagine, one of the three biggest video game console makers decides to skip the most important gaming event of the year, leaving the room for rivals Microsoft and Nintendo. What could possibly be the reason?
First things first: Sony has not really specified why it didn't go to E3 2019. Prior to the show, the company stated it was looking for more "inventive opportunities" to connect with PlayStation fans - presumably opportunities more inventive than E3 will allow. Here's the full statement:
"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."
Needless to say, that answer doesn't give us much to go on. However, there are several interesting reasons why Sony may have chosen not to go to E3 2019, and most of them are fairly clear-cut.
Why go to E3 at all?
The first and most obvious notion is not to ask why Sony wasn't there, but why Sony would go there to begin with. After all, the company has pulled out a massive lead in hardware sales for this current console generation. Until it has something huge to announce otherwise, there seems to be little point in putting forth all the time, effort, and money needed to fluff itself up at the Los Angeles Convention Center. After all, it's not like Sony is an unknown entity in the consumer electronics industry.
That's not to mention the things that Sony is doing during E3. PlayStation is hosting its annual Days of Play sale this week, and even though it isn't holding a press conference, it's making headlines at other companies' shows. Final Fantasy VII Remake is a major title at E3 2019, as Square Enix just revealed a release date and fresh details -- and it happens to be a PlayStation exclusive.
And that's just the start. Turns out, Sony doesn't have to actually attend E3 to do E3.
