Sources: Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony do not plan to attend E3 2023, to be held in-person from June 13 to June 16; E3 2022 was canceled due to the pandemic
All three of gaming's first-party console manufacturers appear poised to skip E3's big return. — E3's first physical event …
IGNKat Bailey
Context & Ripple Effects
Sony had already broken with the show in 2018 and again chose broader consumer events ahead of the PS5 launch. E3’s pandemic disruption then produced a 2022 without either an in-person or digital E3, leaving the planned 2023 return dependent on restoring publisher support.
The three platform holders’ reported absence removed the biggest anchor exhibitors from that return; related coverage later records the ESA’s cancellation of E3 2023 after Ubisoft also opted out.
First-order effects
ESA’s in-person E3 return loses Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony as planned exhibitors, reducing the event’s draw for attendees, media, and third-party publishers.
Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony retain control over when and where they present their game lineups rather than sharing a fixed industry-stage schedule.
Second-order effects
Publishers weighing E3 participation face a weaker audience proposition without the console makers, increasing the incentive to follow Ubisoft in skipping the show.
E3’s organizers must compete more directly with the consumer events Sony had previously favored, rather than relying on platform-holder participation to concentrate industry announcements.
Third-order effects
If platform holders continue to bypass E3, the trade show model shifts from a central launch calendar to company-controlled and consumer-facing presentation channels.
The cancellation suggests E3’s viability depends less on recovering from pandemic interruptions than on whether the ESA can rebuild exhibitor commitments around an event no longer treated as essential by console makers.
The trend: Gaming’s major platform holders are moving product announcements away from a shared trade-show tentpole and toward channels they control directly.
If Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox are all bypassing the LACC then what is the point of E3? I imagine they will be in LA doing their own events but sadly not surprised by this https://twitter.com/...
Expected or not, this is just a huge bummer. I'll always attend E3 as long as it's around, but I'm sad it'll likely never return as the behemoth it once was. https://twitter.com/...
Reporters say that PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo will be ditching E3 in favor of a brand new gaming event called E621. Visit https://e621.net/ for more information. https://twitter.com/...
E3 has been dead for some years, I'm surprised they're gonna bring it back at all. It's just not what it used to be and companies can get more attention to their games for much less money by doing the Nintendo Direct style presentation every June and throughout the year 🤷🏻♂️ htt…