Sony won't be part of E3 2019, a first in the annual gaming show's 24 year history

tech2 News StaffNov 16, 2018 14:01:30 IST

Sony has announced that it won't be participating in the Electronic Entertainment Expo aka E3 2019 trade show which is expected to take place from 11-14 June in Los Angeles. Sony rival Microsoft will be present at the show.

Sony, in a statement to Game Informer, said as the gaming industry evolves it is looking at more inventive opportunities to engage with the gaming community.

PlayStation Logo. Image: PlayStation Blog

"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," said Sony.

This will be the first time in E3's 24-year history that Sony won't be participating. The E3 gaming conference is one of the most important gaming conventions held annually. Sony had announced its first PlayStation at E3's inaugural edition in 1995. Over the last few years, thanks to the prospect of live streaming over the internet, many gaming companies have been having their own shows and streams to prevent competition at E3 with other rivals. Nintendo, for instance, does not do a traditional E3 conference demo but has its own announcements on its own streams.

Sony won't be having its own event, the PlayStation Experience (PSX) in December this year. According to a report in Variety, the chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide, Shawn Layden had said that Sony didn't have any new games to show for PSX this year.

Unlike Electronic Arts which has its own event on the sidelines of E3, Sony won't be having any such event either.