E3 is returning as a physical event after three years, and depending on who you ask, this may be something worth celebrating. Which would be the case if you’re looking for news on games by major publishers that don’t have their own gaming hardware. But for the big three that do, namely PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox, it looks like they will be giving this year’s edition of the annual gaming expo a pass this year.

Sources to IGN claim that the three aforementioned companies won’t be in the event itself, or have a presence on the showfloor. Which is a little strange for the Microsoft subsidiary specifically, as the company previously mentioned it will have its annual summer showcase in LA, the same city as the E3 physical event. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer also mentioned that it will time its own showcase with E3 so that it’s “convenient for press and even consumers”.

For PlayStation though, it’s not particularly surprising, as the company hasn’t officially been part of the event since 2019. The company has been borrowing the Nintendo Direct formula with its own State of Play streams, and it seems to be working out well enough to justify sticking to that way of doing things. As for Nintendo itself, the report notes that despite its own Direct streams, the company has traditionally maintained a presence on the E3 floor. But this year, the company will be breaking tradition by not having a booth on the event floor.

For the two Japanese gaming brands, it’s unclear if they will be doing as Xbox is planning to, by having its own showcase that’s adjacent to but still independent of E3 itself. But at the very least, we will likely be getting another annual episode of the wacky Devolver Digital showcase, easily the highlight of every year for the annual event.

(Source: IGN, Xbox)

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