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Sony's Shawn Layden Discusses Sony's Absence From E3
posted on by Karen Ressler
Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden discussed Sony's decision to skip the 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show event in an interview with CNet on Monday.
Layden explained that E3, held in June, is too late in the year for a trade show where the company has Christmas holiday discussions with retailers. "Now we have an event in February called Destination PlayStation, where we bring all retailers and third-party partners to come hear the story for the year," he said. "They're making purchasing discussions in February."
Major game companies such as Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft typically use E3 to share major news about upcoming projects through press conferences. Layden said that Sony is focusing on fewer, larger games, so the company will not have many updates to share around the time of E3 2019 as would be expected. Layden also noted that he thinks E3 has less relevance for journalists now that game news on the internet is 24/7.
Layden concluded that he believes E3 needs to be more of a "fan festival" of gaming, more like Comic-Con, in order to stay relevant.
This year will mark the first time in the E3's 24-year history that Sony will not attend. More than 50 companies are participating, including Microsoft and Nintendo.
Source: CNet (Ian Sherr) via Siliconera
