Nintendo reportedly has an upcoming digital showcase coming this year.
This rumor comes from Kotaku reported Ethan Gach. He tweeted:
“Sources are telling me both PlayStation AND Nintendo will have additional digital showcases this year.”
The timing of this tweet has other outlets, like GoNintendo, speculating if these digital showcase events are planned for this coming E3 week.
Of course, by now we all know fully well that E3 was cancelled for this year, for reasons that were outlined here. However, that does not mean that game companies can’t use the date for their digital events.
In fact, Microsoft is going ahead with scheduling their Starfield Direct and Xbox Showcase event on that week, and have even planned with Fathom Events to present it to fans for free in US theaters.
For the record, Sony announced that they would stop participating in E3 events in 2019. Sony had several disagreements with the E3 organizers, although they continued to be a member of the ESA.
While Nintendo did not make such a declaration, they almost may as well have done the same thing. Nintendo did not participate with E3 in 2020, 2022, and 2023. For 2021, Nintendo held a digital presentation during E3 week, as well as a Treehouse Live event.
For all the discourse about how E3 has been rendered unnecessary, there is no doubt that gamers will still be looking for game announcements and presentations within the period that the event is held.
It would also be a good time for both companies to hold presentations. While PlayStation in particular have a few major third party releases in the immediate future, they have only confirmed Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to be the only first party game releasing for the rest of this year. Subsequently, the only major first party release we know to expect from Nintendo this year is Pikmin 4.
It is not so much that gamers or investors expect either company to reveal some surprise new games to be announced for the rest of 2023. Rather, the announcement of new upcoming games after 2023 would continue to sustain interest and brand recognition for both companies.
There is another possible thing both can announce that would not be games. Many gamers, games media, and insiders that anticipate that Sony and Microsoft have PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series Pro editions in the works. E3 week would be a good time for Sony to reveal such a PlayStation 5 Pro.
Subsequently, anticipation is high for Nintendo’s next console after the Switch. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had just come out, so it may take 2024 or later for such a console to release.
However, E3 week would be a great time for Nintendo to reveal their future plans, including setting expectations on the timetable for the Nintendo Switch.
It was notable that Ethan did not mention E3 at all. It’s true that these announcements could be planned for well after June, as once again, both companies don’t have many first party games scheduled.
Given the anticipated scope of these presentations, not only gamers but the industry are expecting big announcements.
