Microsoft formalizes its absence from E3 2023

Microsoft is making out its absence from E3 2023. The American giant is still organizing a virtual event on June 11th.

When E3 returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center next June for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Microsoft won’t be in the aisles. “We look forward to hosting our Xbox Games Showcase on June 11 and will share more details later,”an Xbox spokesperson recently told IGN. “We’re also looking forward to co-streaming our event as part of E3 Digital and we won’t be in the aisles of E3.”

Microsoft is making out its absence from E3 2023

The question of Microsoft’s presence, or rather absence, at E3 2023 began to swirl in early February, when IGN reported that the company, like Sony and Nintendo, would not be physically present at E3 2023 in the living room. There was little hope, however, that the Redmond-based firm might still be there, after the company announced it would offer a Starfield-themed presentation on June 11, the same day as the Digital E3 weekend launch. The American giant’s decision not to physically attend E3 comes after Nintendo’s decision last month not to attend at all. Sony, for its part, has yet to formalize either its presence or absence.

The American giant is still organizing a virtual event on June 11th.

The absence of not one, not two, but all three of the major game console manufacturers at E3 Physics is a major setback for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which organizes the event. The show has lost its luster since 2019 when the ESA inadvertently leaked the contact information of over 2,000 journalists, analysts and content creators. The pandemic and the emergence of competing events like the Summer Game Fest have (so far) kept E3 from regaining its acclaim. I hope the trend changes.