E3 is Not As Good Without PlayStation, Says Xbox Boss

This year's E3 was pretty quiet, which is no surprise as developers and publishes buckle down for next-gen. That said, another big reason why the show felt lighter was because PlayStation wasn't there in any capacity. And you'd think that would make Xbox happy, having less competition for headlines and industry mind share, and I'm sure to an extent it did, but speaking to our sister site Giant Bomb, Xbox boss Phil Spencer actually admitted E3 isn't as good without Sony there.

"I wish Sony was here. E3 is not as good when they're not here," said Spencer while speaking to Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann about PlayStation not being at the show. As you will know, on one hand, it behooves Xbox for PlayStation not to be there for obvious reasons. However, Spencer is also a member of the Entertainment Software Association board, who puts on the show, so I'm sure he also wants to see the show as big as possible. Further, the show being smaller doesn't mean more eyeballs on Xbox's stuff. With one of the big players missing, there's less hype, and with less hype comes less eyeballs on the show all together, which hurts everybody.

The question is: will Sony return for E3 2020? At the moment of publishing, the PlayStation makers haven't said. You'd assume with a new PlayStation console launching next year it would, but maybe it will put on its own event for the unveiling of the PS5. Of course, both of these things could be true at the same time. If there is one thing that this year's show proved is that E3 perhaps needs PlayStation more than PlayStation needs E3. That said, like Phil Spencer, PlayStation boss Shawn Layden is also on the board of the ESA, so it's hard to imagine Sony pulling out all together.

Anyway, as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think or, alternatively, hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ and let me know over there. How was this year's E3? Do you think PlayStation will come back for E3 2020?