E3 is not the be-all end-all of the gaming world that it once was. At one time, E3 was considered the San Diego Comic Con of the gaming industry. Now, with both Nintendo and Sony seemingly washing their hands of the event, it has been left to flounder a bit on its own.
E3 2019 was very poorly received by the masses, with no Sony presence whatsoever. Making things worse for the ESA, the organization that runs E3, Sony announced last month that it will once again not be attending E3 in 2020, opting instead to unveil the upcoming Sony PlayStation 5 on its own. If rumors are to be believed, that could be happening as early as this month.
It seemed to many that the highlight of last year’s E3 was the announcement of Xbox’s Project Scarlett, which we now know to be the Xbox Series X. Microsoft has already confirmed that they will be attending E3 2020, and the Xbox Series X will be the centerpiece of their press conference.
However, the ESA can’t solely bank on Microsoft to create an epic week of gaming news. As such, the organization has let it be known that they have listened to a lot of the criticism they received last year and are going to be working with new partners in order to “shake things up” for the 2020 show.
“You’ll be happy to know that we’re not producing E3 2020 in a vacuum,” the ESA said in a statement. “For E3 2020, we’re collaborating with industry insiders and new creative partners, including the tastemakers at iam8bit.com, to reinvigorate the show and, frankly, to shake things up.”
Of course, data integrity was also a concern after last year. There was a leak of attendee information via the ESA website, which the organization has acknowledged and will seek to remedy this year. It intends to do that by overhauling the registration process so that only the minimum amount of information will be required from attendees. They have also vowed to keep any captured data secure.
“Earning back your trust and support is our top priority,” the ESA said in its statement. That same statement goes on to note that there will be new attendee attractions and shows, however no specifics have been given on this as of yet.
The ESA has stressed that it will be focusing on experiential zones, high-profile guests, stage experiences, and more. They go on to say that more concrete details will be revealed as we get closer to the actual expo.
E3 2020 will take place from June 9 to June 11, 2020.
