Ubisoft has confirmed that it will not attend E3 this year, joining the Xbox and Nintendo consoles that missed the conference.
In a conversation with the VCC yesterday (March 27), a representative of Ubisoft confirmed that, although the company “originally intended to officially attend E3,” it will no longer be present.
“We have made a subsequent decision to move in a different direction and will host the Ubisoft Forward Live event on June 12 in Los Angeles,” Ubisoft said. “We look forward to sharing more details with our players soon.”
Ubisoft joins companies like Nintendo and Microsoft by skipping E3.
Nintendo has stated that it will not attend E3 in February, stating that “since the E3 exhibition this year does not fit into our plans, we have decided not to participate.”
Earlier this month, Xbox also confirmed that it would not be present at the E3 exhibition site. Instead, Microsoft Games will hold a presentation for the Xbox showcase on June 11 — two days before the official start of the E3 exhibition — which will feature a “deep dive” into the starry sky.
Although this has not yet been confirmed, it has also been reported that Sony will not be attending E3, although the company has not yet confirmed whether this is the case.
Last month, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot questioned the conference during a conversation about the company’s earnings, saying that “if E3 takes place, we will be there and we will have something to show.”
News of Ubisoft’s departure from E3 appeared on the same day that NME reported allegations of a crunch culture and management problems at Ubisoft Paris.
In a conversation with NME, perhaps anonymously, studio employees stated about the “mess” of preparation for filming, 13-hour shifts of complex and creative decisions made by the management.
Ubisoft Paris is best known for Just Dance, but has also worked on Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, the Watch Dogs series and Beyond Good and Evil 2.
