E3 2018 Sony PS4 PlayStation 4 1

If you’ve been following the Sony forum scuttlebutt today you’ll have been in for a ride: rumours of everything from studio acquisitions to game announcements have been rampant – all, as you’d expect, based on zero evidence. The big rumour right now, though, is that the platform holder is apparently skipping E3 2019, with an announcement due any moment now.

It’s wild speculation that seems to stem from a Reddit post, which to the best of our knowledge has since been removed. We must stress here that we’ve been unable to verify or corroborate any of this – it’s, to the best of our knowledge, just forums freaking out about the possibility. But with the company scrapping PSX 2018, it’s worth some discussion we suppose.

Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube150k
Watch on YouTube

The line of thinking seems to be that Sony has played all of its cards already, and while there are titles like Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding still to come, they’ve been present at plenty of press conferences already. Some have suggested that after E3 2018, where the Japanese giant generally disappointed fans, it simply can’t pad out yet another show with the same four games.

The alternative angle is that it may be preparing its own kind of showcase, which we’ve seen other publishers like EA begin to do. The reality is that a lot of these companies no longer rely on E3, as they all have their own enormous YouTube channels and social media followings with which to make announcements independently. It’s not impossible we suppose.

The part of the rumour that falls flat for us is the fact that this will all purportedly be announced imminently. Why, if it’s true that Sony’s skipping E3 2019, would it say something a good seven or so months ahead of the event itself? And near to the anniversary of the PlayStation 4’s launch, no less? Nah, we’re not buying this one at all.

Update (21:00 GMT): A Variety article has been published and pulled stating that Sony will miss E3 2019, forfeiting both its usual press conference and show floor presence. The original piece referenced some kind of announcement in an Entertainment Software Association press release, but there's currently no further information and the article is offline.

Update (21:15 GMT): Sony has confirmed that it will not participate in E3 2019.