Microsoft has confirmed its plans to attend E3 in the wake of Sony's announcement that it would miss the gaming event for a second consecutive year.
This all kicked off at the start of the week, as Sony made its initial announcement on skipping E3 2020. A spokesperson for Sony told GamesIndustry.biz that "we do not feel the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year."
In response, the Entertainment Software Association, or ESA, released a statement in which it claimed that "exhibitor interest in our new activations is gaining the attention of brands that view E3 as a key opportunity to connect with video game fans worldwide." The statement did not name Sony except in its title.
Following-up, Xbox head Phil Spencer confirmed on Twitter that the company was "hard at work on E3". He also told one fan that "respecting and talking with the fans is such special part of the show each year."
The fans are an amazing part of E3 every year for me and the team. Respecting and talking with the fans is such special part of the show each year.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 14, 2020
What this all means for mobile
Microsoft is still developing its upcoming xCloud streaming service which will work across all platforms, including mobile. A public test began in 2019, with Microsoft adding 50 games to the service in November, so an E3 announcement about its eventual launch is likely.
Nintendo has foregone large-scale announcements at events like E3 in recent years in favour of its own Nintendo Direct streams, which can occur at any time of the year. There will still likely be one scheduled during E3 even if it is not technically part of the event, though it will no doubt focus on Switch titles.
Google declined to comment when we reached out to them about their plans for E3. Last year, the firm streamed its own Stadia Connect event just before E3, and is likely to do a similar event either before or during E3 to kick up interest in the platform.
Recent figures provided to us by Sensor Tower indicate the uptake on Stadia has slowed considerably since it was launched in November 2019. As of January 13th 2020, the Stadia mobile app has seen 550,000 downloads, with 383,000 of those coming from its launch month alone.
