PlayStation’s Shawn Layden Explains Why Sony Dropped Out of E3 2019

Sony’s decision to drop out of the long-running E3 trade show this year was a result of the event’s loss of “impact” in recent years, SIE Worldwide Studios chairman and former SIE president and CEO Shawn Layden told CNET.“When we decided to take video games out of CES, back in 1995 during the PlayStation 1 era, E3 served two constituencies,” says Layden in the extensive interview. “Retailers and journalists. Retailers would come in – you’d see a guy come in, and he’d say, ‘I’m from Sears, and I handle Hot Wheels, Barbie, VHS and video games. So what are you about?’ There was a huge educational component. Then you had journalists who had magazines and lead time and jockeying for position on the cover. And there was no internet to speak of. So a trade show at that time of year for this nascent industry was exactly what we needed to do.” “Now we have an event in February called Destination PlayStation, where we bring all retailers and third-party partners to come hear the story for the year. They’re making purchasing discussions in February. June, now, is just too late to have a Christmas holiday discussion with retailers. So retail has really dropped off. And journalists now, with the internet and the fact that 24/7 there is game news, it’s lost its impact around that.”