Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony to Skip E3

Major gaming publishers won't be attending E3's first physical event since 2019.

IGN reports that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony won't be part of E3 2023 or even have a presence at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This is not the comeback that E3 would have wanted. E3 attempted to hold digital shows through the pandemic years. It was messy in 2021 and cancelled in 2022.

Sony already has a history of skipping E3 - they had no booth there in 2019. Microsoft and Nintendo though have been staples at E3 throughout the years. Other major publishers like Activision-Blizzard, Take-Two, and Ubisoft could still have a presence at E3. But more could also follow Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.

These days, publishers are able to get word of their games out without the need to attend E3. The past few years have perhaps taught these companies how to do that for more effectively.

ReedPop, the company that organises PAX and Comic Con, is taking over the organising of E3. In a statement to IGN, ReedPop said it has, "received a tremendous amount of interest and verbal commitments from many of the biggest companies in the industry, and when we are ready to announce the exhibitors we are confident it will be a lineup that will make the trip to Los Angeles well worth it for the industry and consumers alike."

Time will tell, and results will be seen in June.

E3 is set to run from Tuesday, 13th of June 2023 to Friday, 16th of June 2023.