We’re just coming off of a huge set of gaming events over the last two weeks, and it’s been quite the rush and quite the letdown at times. After all, we started with the Sony State of Play event that happened just before everything else. Then there was the Summer Game Fest, the brainchild of Geoff Keighley. A few days after that came the Xbox Showcase and the Ubisoft Forward events, and then there was a week’s wait until the Nintendo Direct finally dropped and brought everything to a close. Next up for people to talk about? Gamescom. Albeit with a key party missing from the proceedings.
You might remember that earlier this year, Nintendo stated that they weren’t going to be attending the show. It was a big blow, but many understood, given the “current standing” of the Nintendo Switch. Yes, that’s been corrected, but many people didn’t know what was coming at the time! Now, Sony has revealed to German site Games Wirtschaft that they won’t be attending Gamescom either.
The twist here is that they honestly might have a good reason not to attend. After all, they’re not in the best place right now with their PS5 titles. That State of Play that we mentioned earlier wasn’t the best received on many levels, not the least of which is that the best thing that was shown at the presentation was Astro Bot! Think about that. This is Sony, which has bought plenty of big companies to help them make games, and THAT was the title that stuck with everyone. Furthermore, they dedicated over a third of that presentation to show off their 5v5 shooter Concord, which was immediately downvoted online by a large margin, and blasted for being “yet another team shooter” that gamers are somehow supposed to care about amongst a wave of similar titles.
Furthermore, Sony admitted that they weren’t going to drop any new titles within “existing franchises” until the next fiscal year, which is not what you want to hear from a publisher that’s doing well in console sales. You need games to move your hardware, after all.
Going back to Gamescom, the reason they might not be going is possibly that they won’t have much to show, and it would be too costly to go there just to show off a few titles.
Plus, they could do their own showcase or event once they are ready, which many suspect will be later this year.
