PlayStation is skipping E3 for the first time ever in 2019

PlayStation will not be making an appearance at the next E3.

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that PlayStation will not be attending the upcoming E3 show in 2019, Game Informer reported Thursday. Not only that, it won't even host an independent press conference around E3 -- something that Electronic Arts has done.

This will be PlayStation's first absence from E3 since the very first show in 1995.

The Entertainment Software Association announced its upcoming 2019 E3 show Thursday but made no mention of PlayStation in the press release circulated via email. In the press release, the ESA listed "the leading video game companies already committed to participating in E3 2019," which included Microsoft/Xbox, Nintendo, Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Ubisoft, and a handful of other heavy-hitters that pretty much always make an appearance.

“As the industry evolves, Sony Interactive Entertainment continues to look for inventive opportunities to engage the community," the company told Game Informer. "PlayStation fans mean the world to us and we always want to innovate, think differently and experiment with new ways to delight gamers. As a result, we have decided not to participate in E3 in 2019. We are exploring new and familiar ways to engage our community in 2019 and can’t wait to share our plans with you.”

This statement seems to imply that PlayStation doesn't have enough new content to show off in June, and thus doesn't want to disappoint fans with a lackluster showcase.

The company outright said this in reference to its recent cancellation of its 2018 PlayStation Experience event. Shawn Layden, head of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, said PlayStation "wouldn’t have enough to bring people all together in some location in North America to have that event." It's likely that the situation with E3 is no different.

PlayStation's big tentpoles in 2018 were God of War and Spider-Man, two game of the year contenders, and while The Last of Us Part II and Days Gone are still on the way, having just two games to show off internally from the company would definitely be a letdown to fans who expect to see some new announcements every year.

Of course, this doesn't mean that games for PlayStation will not be at E3. There are plenty of third party developers working on PlayStation games like Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima.

As for what PlayStation will do in the future, the company is ambiguous, but it did mention that it will be "exploring new and familiar ways to engage our community in 2019" so there's still a possibility of something happening. We just don't know what.