One of 2018’s most shocking announcements was that Sony would be skipping E3 2019, not even holding an EA Play style event. Shortly after that announcement, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer and Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime presented optimistic views for next year’s show. This optimism on Nintendo’s end continued with a recent interview between IGN and Reggie Fils-Aime where the later called E3 both an “outstanding opportunity” to show new games and a “no-brainer” to attend.
Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime re-emphasized the fact that the engagement towards announcements in the five days surrounding E3 result is the highest Nintendo sees with any event all year. That being said, he highlighted that Nintendo tries to find innovative ways to attend, whether that be by creating little environments based on upcoming games or by ditching a live press conference for new Nintendo Direct-styled presentations:
“E3, those five days, is the opportunity for the world to find out what’s new for video games as entertainment. And during that time, we generate more engagement than…whether it’s CES or Comic-Con, or other big entertainment events. People tune in to find out what’s new and to have first playable experiences for our industry. That’s why E3 is important to Nintendo.
Our mentality has been to constantly innovate what we do and how we message at E3. We’ve innovated in how we utilize our booth space, to create a little piece of Hyrule or to create a little piece of the environment in Super Mario Odyssey, as examples. We innovate in how we deliver our messaging, whether it was the big stage productions or whether it’s the Direct communications that we do today.
And so everyone’s watching, we drive innovation, we leverage the elements, so for us it’s a very effective opportunity to deliver our message, and therefore it’s a bit of a no-brainer for us to participate. Now, what’s important as an industry, though, is that E3 in total continues to innovate and it continues to be that leading opportunity to drive consumer engagement in this way. So that’s why we participate. That’s why I sit on the board of the ESA and help drive some of this thinking. It’s important to us.”
When inquired about what Nintendo decides to show at E3, Reggie Fils-Aime stated that Nintendo likes to focus on games that are closer to release as that gets fans excited. At the latest, they’ll show something that’s coming during the first half of the next year. There have been exceptions though, most recently with E3 2018’s announcement of mainline Pokémon game for Nintendo Switch in 2019 following the reveal of Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee!.
If Nintendo does this, Reggie indicates it’s usually because there’s another announcement of a spin-off or a more niche title within the series, and Nintendo wants to reassure fans that a more traditional experience is coming. Considering how not doing this backfired for Blizzard with Diablo Immortal, this is probably a smart mindset for Nintendo to have:
“Broadly speaking, we like to talk about games that are closer. Typically, for example, at E3, we’ll focus on content maybe extending into the first or second calendar quarter following E3. That is typically our horizon. We believe that works because it’s close enough that the fans can be excited and look forward to it. And when we do have an exception and do something different, we’re doing it for very specific reasons.
Maybe we have two experiences within a particular franchise, and we know that one might be maybe a nontraditional representation of that franchise. Or maybe then it’s important for us to frame that the more traditional visualization of that franchise is coming. ‘Fans, don’t worry, but here’s something different to tide you over in the meantime.’ So that’s how we think about it, and how we approach our consumer communication. We want to be near-end. We want to deliver news when it’s most meaningful. We don’t want to be so far out that the consumer either loses interest, or worse, gets frustrated.”
While Sony may not see use in attending E3 2019, it definitely looks like it will be a major part of Nintendo’s strategy next year. With several interesting exclusives coming up like the aforementioned Pokémon game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Metroid Prime 4, and Bayonetta 3, hopefully next year’s show will be great. If you want to finally pick up a Nintendo Switch in anticipation, you can currently do so on Amazon.
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