3 major presences in the gaming space are taking a leave from E3 this year.

In an exclusive today, IGN shared that Nintendo, Xbox, and Sony will all be absent from the returning in person event version of E3 2023.

This comes 4 years after the last E3 occurred in 2019 which was followed by a cancelled event in 2020, an online event in 2021, and a cancelled event in 2022.

According to IGN’s sources, Nintendo will not be in attendance due to reported disagreements with the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

IGN shared the following statement from a source in regards to ESA who organizes the event.

According to one knowledgeable source, there have been “ongoing frustrations” with the ESA over the last three years, who they claim have “incredibly mishandled the E3 brand over the last three years.” They corroborated other IGN sources in saying that several major E3 organizers have departed the ESA, “leaving a new group to sweep up after them,” and criticized ReedPop’s handling of the event.

ReedPop(the events company helping with this year’s event) had Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tell IGN the following:

“The show floor will certainly miss the buzz and scale of the platform holder stands…It’s unfortunate that the physical event returns when Nintendo is at the tail end of the Switch lifecycle, with no sign of a next-gen device this year,” Rolls says. “I’m not sure it will have many games to show this year, so it makes sense to skip.”

The June 13 to 16 in Los Angeles, with the 15th and 16th being “E3 Gamer Days” open to the public regardless of media affiliation.

What do you think about Nintendo’s reported decision to skip E3 this year? Let us know in the comments.