Today Sony confirmed it won't be at E3 2020, and neither will the PlayStation 5, lining up with inside sources and our suppositions. Instead Sony plans to host and attend hundreds of events to showcase PlayStation's present and future.
It's official: Sony is skipping E3 2020, making it the second time in the last two decades it missed the event. Sony announced the news to GamesIndustry.biz with a statement that promises big things for PlayStation throughout the year. It's just these things won't include E3. There was no announcement of the rumored PlayStation 5 reveal event in February, though.
"After thorough evaluation SIE has decided not to participate in E3 2020. ...We do not feel the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year.
"We will build upon our global events strategy in 2020 by participating in hundreds of consumer events across the globe. Our focus is on making sure fans feel part of the PlayStation family and have access to play their favorite content. We have a fantastic line up of titles coming to PlayStation 4, and with the upcoming launch of PlayStation 5, we are truly looking forward to a year of celebration with our fans."
Sony is already making good on its promises and has two major events planned for February 2020.
First, there's Sony's presence at the Taipei International Games Show from February 6-9.
Sony's Taipei lineup includes PS4 games with both playable demos (FFVII: Remake, NiOh 2, and Resident Evil: Resistance will all be playable) as well as screened trailers for Cyberpunk 2077, The Last of Us Part II, and Elden Ring.
We have no reason to believe the PlayStation 5 will be revealed during this event. It's mostly a showcase of what's to come on PS4.
Then there's the month-long Experience PlayStation live event in New York City, which is being held from January 14 - February 16.
Again, this is mostly an opportunity for everyday PS fans to jump in and try new games and content. Sony will host PS4 and PSVR game demos at the Sony Square venue on Madison Avenue.
So where does that leave the PlayStation 5 reveal? Possibly somewhere in between. Rumor has it Sony will reveal the PS5 on February 12, 2020, which is smack-dab in the middle of both events. Gamers could watch the unveiling live at the Experience PlayStation event in New York.
It's also likely Sony could reveal the PlayStation 5 in two parts: a software-developer centric event that talks about the PlayStation 5's capabilities and new hardware, and a special console-focused event that shows off the actual physical system.
Sony took this approach in 2013 with the PlayStation 4 to get the word out ahead of that year's Game Developers Conference. It makes a lot of sense for Sony to reveal key PS5 details ahead of GDC 2020 in March. Sparking dev interest at the show would be wise, and there'd be lots of buzz ahead of the biggest dev meeting in 2020.
Remember Sony has yet to confirm any details on the PlayStation 5's reveal. All we've gotten so far is a promise that Sony will "share more details in the months ahead."
Sony is expected to reveal the PS5 in a special event in February 2020. The console will release in Holiday 2020, and it may cost $499.
Check below for more info:
PlayStation 5 specs and details:
- Custom SoC with second-gen Navi GPU, Zen 2 CPU
- 8-Core, 16-thread Zen 2 CPU at 3.2GHz
- Navi GPU at 2.0GHz with 36 Compute Units
- Navi, Zen SoC uses new AMD RDNA 2.0 architecture
- Ultra-fast SSD
- Support for 4K 120 Hz TVs
- Ray-tracing enabled
- 8K output support (for gaming)
- Plays all PS4 games
- Separate games that ship on BD-XL Blu-ray discs
- New controller with extensive haptic and tactile feedback
PlayStation 5 Coverage:
- PlayStation 5's biggest features have yet to be announced, Sony says
- PS4 has sold over 1 billion games and 106 million consoles
- PlayStation 5 backward compatibility should support every PS4 game
- Sony reveals the PlayStation 5...logo
- New trapezoidal PS5 render is an expensive accident waiting to happen
- A $399 PlayStation 5 will conquer next-gen
- PlayStation 5 to outsell Xbox Series X in 2020, analyst predicts
- PS5 may only enhance PS4 games, legacy PS1, PS2 and PS3 games unlikely
- PlayStation 5 prototype dev kit console gets V-shaped clean
- Sony: The future is coming at CES 2020
- PlayStation 5 GPU: 9.2 TFLOPs with 36 custom Navi compute units
- PlayStation 5 GPU emulates PS4, PS4 Pro with special modes
- PS5, Xbox Series X SSD may use software-defined flash to boost speeds
- PS5's SSD is 'exceptionally powerful,' may beat Xbox Series X speeds
- DualShock 5 renders show new trigger design, USB-C, ergonomic shell
- PlayStation 5 to support 8K gaming, Sony confirms
- New PlayStation 5 renders show off radical different design, again
- Leaked PlayStation 5 ad prices console at $1,000, is totally fake
- Sony seeks a new Head of Strategy for Worldwide Studios
- Leaked PlayStation 5 devkit photos show new DualShock controller
- PS5, Xbox Scarlett SSD may use Optane-like ReRAM to supercharge speeds
- NVIDIA G-Sync monitors to improve PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlett
- PlayStation 5: Everything We Know So Far
- PlayStation 5 confirmed to have 8C/16T Zen 2 CPU from AMD
- PS5, Project Scarlett may use Samsung's 6th gen V-NAND NVMe SSDs
- PS5 backward compatibility confirmed, will play PS4 games
- Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 has 4K 120Hz output support
- PS5, Project Scarlett to hit over 10TFLOPs of power, sources say
- PS4 will be supported into 2022, to live alongside PS5
- Sony: ultra-high-speed SSD is 'the key' to next-gen PS5
- PS5 dev kit rumor: 'ultra-fast RAM', Navi GPU with 13 TFLOPs
- PlayStation 5 rumored to ship with 2TB of super-fast SSD for $499
- Insider: PlayStation 5 dev kit faster than Xbox Scarlett right now
- PS5 cartridges aren't real, patents are for Sony kids toys
- PS5's SSD may benefit PS4 games the most
- PS5 powered by Navi in 2020, AMD making Navi with Sony input
- Cloud-powered PlayStation controller may let you play free game demos
- Gran Turismo 7 is a PlayStation 5 launch title: launches Nov 20, 2020
- PS5 confirmed to support 8K video, ray tracing, all on Navi
- PlayStation 5 rumored to cost $499, launches November 20, 2020
- PlayStation game demos are coming back with Sony's ambitious new plan
- PS5 controller: Built-in mic, USB-C, no lightbar, ergonomic design
- PlayStation 5 concept video shows totally new design
- Sony solves PS5's biggest issue
- Sony: PS5 development going according to plan
- New Viking Assassin's Creed may be next-gen console launch game
- AMD working on 'secret sauce' for next-gen Xbox/PlayStation
- The first real photo of a PlayStation 5 dev kit appears
- Next-gen PS5/Xbox Scarlett open-world game: 'best real-time graphics'
- Sony restructures workforce to prepare for PS5
- PlayStation VR 2: built-in cameras, wireless, ready for PS5
- PS5 games will ship on 100GB Blu-ray BDXL discs
- PS5 and Xbox Scarlett will both handle ray tracing differently
- PlayStation 5 could feature AI-powered 'PlayStation Assist'
- Sony won't abandon singleplayer story-driven games on PS5
- PS5 rumor: GPU is nearly as powerful as RTX 2080, GPU clocked at 2GHz
- PlayStation 5 rumored to be unveiled on February 12, 2020
- Sony to raise PS5 cost thanks to U.S. tariffs