In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz Sony have once again confirmed they will to be appearing at E3 this year, making it the second year in a row they will have missed. This is rather mind boggling considering Sony are releasing a brand new games console at the end of this year.
Sony said; “After thorough evaluation SIE has decided not to participate in E3 2020. We have great respect for the ESA as an organization, but we do not feel the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year.”
Is this a good idea? Where not so sure. For starters it’s a little disappointing, we were hoping E3 would be a time where Sony confirmed some games and really showed off the PS5 getting us all hyped. Sony can just do this at another event or one they set up on their own we suppose, but it is something they need to do.
What worries us slightly is Sony’s attitude, we don’t want them to return to the arrogant ‘you’re not worthy of our hardware’ strategy they adopted during the PS3’s launch. We get that they have the fight of their lives against Microsoft, but they need to be careful to not alienate their audience again. It seems like every generation either Sony or Microsoft botch their own launch due to stupid public relations errors.
Not coming to E3 communicates confidence on the part of Sony but they would be wise to not let this come across as elitism or arrogance. A counter argument to this is Sony skipping E3 suggests they have something to hide and are not as confident in the PS5 as they could be.
However could skipping E3 be a good idea? Like Nintendo’s Direct Shows, Sony know how to put on a spectacle all by themselves. Something they have no doubt already planned on doing. E3’s timing simply may not suit their agenda, forcing them to bow out. This would be understandable.
Sony do risk Microsoft hogging all the E3 glory for themselves though. E3 is a time that gamers look forward to in order to see trailers of upcoming projects. Sony risk Microsoft becoming associated with this hype while they are distanced from it, allowing Microsoft to capitalise on this several months later.
It’s a risky strategy to be sure, we just hope Sony know what they are doing.