Microsoft confirms it will not be on the E3 2023 present ground

When E3 returns this June to the Los Angeles Conference Middle for the primary time for the reason that begin of the pandemic, Microsoft received’t be on the present ground. “We are able to’t wait to host our Xbox Video games Showcase on June eleventh and can share extra particulars later,” an Xbox spokesperson advised IGN on Friday (by way of The Verge). “We additionally sit up for co-streaming our occasion as a part of E3 Digital and won’t be on the E3 present ground.”

Questions on Microsoft’s E3 2023 presence started circulating in the beginning of February when IGN reported that the corporate, alongside Sony and Nintendo, wouldn’t have a presence on the present ground. There was some hope Microsoft would nonetheless be on the occasion after the corporate introduced it will stream a devoted Starfield showcase on June eleventh, the identical day E3’s “Digital Week” kicks off. Microsoft’s choice to skip the in-person portion of E3 comes after Nintendo stated final month it will not be on the occasion in any respect. Sony has but to state whether or not it will likely be at E3 2023.

The absence of even one console producer from the E3 present ground is a big blow to the Leisure Software program Affiliation. The present has misplaced a lot of its shine since 2019, when the ESA inadvertently leaked the contact data of greater than 2,000 journalists, analysts and content material creators. The pandemic and the emergence of competing occasions like Summer season Recreation Fest haven’t allowed E3 to regain its footing.