E3 2020’s Absence Reportedly Hasn’t Hurt Video Game Publishers

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The summer of neverending game announcements has proven to be more beneficial for some publishers viewership-wise compared to E3.

In a year without E3, questions immediately arose regarding whether or not the absence of the convention would be a positive or a negative thing overall. Without one major event to collectively draw the eyes of video game players around the world, how would publishers across the industry fare? Well, based on current information, it seems as though most are doing better in 2020 than they have in the past.

In a new report from Super Data, it looks as though most publishers are getting far more eyes on their products in 2020 compared to previous years in which showcases transpired at E3 proper. When comparing recent events such as Ubisoft’s Forward live stream, which occurred earlier in July, to those that the publisher has previously held in the past in tandem with E3, the viewership has actually been higher this year compared to last.

Excitement for the next-generation of consoles has also surely played a part in why viewership might be higher this year, too. The report goes on to state that the June PS5 reveal event specifically averaged 1.51M viewers per minute, which was markedly higher than previous events such as The Game Awards 2019 or Nintendo’s E3 2019 Direct. In short, larger companies such as PlayStation are more than fine when it comes to hosting their own events separate from E3, which is perhaps why Sony opted to skip the Los Angeles-based show in 2020 before it was even formally canceled.

That said, not all events this summer have been more successful than in the past. The PC Gaming Show in 2020 generated less attention compared to 2019 by a fair amount. Without this showcase transpiring in proximity to other more notable events, it seems as though the average viewer didn’t bother to tune in.

All in all, while E3 is an important annual event on the calendar for many gaming fans around the globe, more notable publishers have still seemingly been absolutely fine without the convention in 2020. Whether that means these companies will opt to skip the show in the future (E3 is currently expected to return in 2021) remains to be seen, but it’s good to know that the absence of E3 hasn’t been a damaging thing whatsoever.