Microsoft confirms it won’t be on the E3 2023 show floor

When E3 to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the first time since the begin of the pandemic, Microsoft received’t be on the show floor. “We can’t wait to host our Xbox Games Showcase on June 11th and will share more details later,” an Xbox spokesperson on Friday (). “We also look forward to co-streaming our event as part of E3 Digital and will not be on the E3 show floor.”

Questions about Microsoft’s E3 2023 presence started circulating at the begin of February when reported that the firm, alongside Sony and Nintendo, wouldn’t have a presence on the show floor. There was some hope Microsoft would nonetheless be at the occasion after the firm introduced it would stream a devoted Starfield showcase on , the similar day E3’s “Digital Week” kicks off. Microsoft’s resolution to skip the in-person portion of E3 comes after Nintendo mentioned final month it wouldn’t be at the occasion in any respect. Sony has but to state whether or not it will be at E3 2023.

The absence of even one console producer from the E3 show floor is a big blow to the Entertainment Software Association. The show has misplaced a lot of its shine since 2019, when the ESA inadvertently of greater than 2,000 journalists, analysts and content material creators. The pandemic and the emergence of competing occasions like haven’t allowed E3 to regain its footing.