E3 was one of the first major events to get hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but now one of gaming’s biggest events is coming back this year. What’s bad news for fans though, is that three of the biggest gaming companies won’t be part of the event.
IGN reports that Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony won’t be playing a part in the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo 2023. We don’t have any reason as to why they’re all skipping out, but a lot of fans think this would be detrimental to the E3 brand, considering that it was once the biggest event to showcase all the most-anticipated titles in gaming, and now they have nothing to reveal from the bigger studios.
Some speculate that this is because each of the studios have also come up with their own mini-E3s over the years—with Xbox also holding their event around the same time as E3. Even if Xbox is going out on its own, CEO Phil Spencer still had this to say about E3:
“E3 is just, to me, one of the seminal moments of gaming. I love the history of going down to LA, thousands of people there, getting to see great new things…getting to see people in the industry, the fan events that we’ve had. I definitely want that to continue.”
Despite the big studios skipping out of E3, I think there’s still a chance for the event to showcase some big games. I’m sure a lot of fans would love to get update on some non-console exclusives. Who knows, maybe this absence of the big brands will allow for some unexpected diamonds in the rough.
E3 2023 takes place from June 13–16.
