Xbox still plans to attend E3 2020

For a second year in a row, PlayStation 4 maker Sony has opted to skip E3, but the same won’t be true for Xbox.

Xbox head Phil Spencer tweeted lightly about the company’s plans for the annual trade event, saying that the “team is hard at work on E3” as we speak.

“We look forward to sharing with all who love to play what's ahead for us. Our artform has consistently been propelled by the cross-section of creativity and technical progress,” writes Spencer. “2020 is a milestone year in that journey for Team Xbox.”

Spencer’s tweet came only a handful of hours after news broke that Sony won’t have a presence at E3 2020. This time around Sony explained it would instead focus on consumer events as it no longer believes “the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year."

PlayStation was also absent from E3 2019, a decision then-SIE Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden said was driven by the changing needs of retailers, customers, and journalists.

Sony's decision to skip—and now Xbox’s affirmation that it still plans to attend—comes during a potentially pivotal year for E3. The once industry-exclusive event has leaned more and more toward a consumer audience in recent years as part of a bid to stay relevant, and may be rebranding 2020’s show as more of a “fan, media, and influencer festival” this time around (via GameDaily.biz).