E3 has taken yet another blow to its importance in 2019. EA, who pulled out of E3 to do their own convention called EA Play, has decided to not hold a press conference at this year’s event. Though they pulled out of E3, they have always done a press conference during the same week, so it’s always felt like they never left. Electronic Arts shared a bunch of details on the upcoming event on their website. EA had this to say about skipping out on a traditional press conference:
We’re skipping the press conference this year and are replacing it with multiple live streams that will air during the first two days of the event, bringing you more of what you’ve told us you want more gameplay and insights from the teams making the games.
EA Play will run from June 7-9, which is the weekend before E3 begins. This is in line with when they have held the event in past years. Gamers will be able to play new and upcoming titles published by EA before they have released. This will be accompanied by live streams for those who are not able to attend so you can still get in on the action. Games like Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is likely to make an appearance as well as their typical sports outings like Madden and Fifa.
This new change of pace isn’t shocking as E3 has experienced many shake-ups over the years. EA has always had shakey conferences anyways, usually garnering a “meh” reception from fans. It’s just another blow to the E3 experience as the likes of Sony has pulled out completely from the event and will have no press conference or presence at this years E3. The future of the convention is very much up in the air, so we will see what E3 has to do to stay relevant past 2019. Microsoft has doubled down on the convention, planning to show off new hardware at this year’s event.
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