The Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as E3, is the centrepiece of the gaming calendar. It's the home of the biggest announcements, spread out over press conferences from publishers like EA and Ubisoft, and the big three console manufacturers themselves.
But that's all changing next year, as Sony have announced that they are skipping the event entirely.
While Nintendo moved away from the live (and often gloriously shambolic) press conferences to broadcast a pre-recorded Direct video, they still go to E3 and maintain a booth there, letting people play their games and giving interviews to press. In 2019, PlayStation will be doing neither.
A statement from Sony Interactive Entertainment (via Kotaku) reads: "As the industry evolves, Sony Interactive Entertainment continues to look for inventive opportunities to engage the community.
"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."
The company recently cancelled their annual December event, the PlayStation Experience, for this year too.
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The move makes some sense, as Sony's upcoming exclusive line-up (The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding) has been shown at events multiple times, with all of their other studios presumably hard at work on the PlayStation 5.
Still, it's a blow to those of us who love E3 and all of the chaos and sleepness nights that come with it. At least Microsoft and Nintendo will be there, and hopefully Ubisoft will bring back Aisha Tyler and the dancing giraffes too.
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