An awful lot was made of Sony skipping E3 2019. Some proclaimed months back at how it showed that the PS4 had lost a bit of its lustre.
PlayStation's E3 2018 show was deemed 'ok', but not quite as spectacular as years gone past. Some bemoaned a lack of new games that year, or really, anything new full stop – whilst also forgetting the Ghost of Tsushima gameplay demo and Resident Evil 2 Remake reveal, but whatever.
So naturally, Sony viewed this as a good a time as ever to take a step back.
"with our decision to do fewer games — bigger games — over longer periods of time, we got to a point where June of 2019 was not a time for us to have a new thing to say," explained Shawn Layden, Chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios.
"And we feel like if we ring the bell and people show up here in force, people have expectation 'Oh, they're going to tell us something.'"
It was a more than a reasonable explanation for why this year didn't feel like a good time for Sony to dip their toe into the E3 'trade' show.
The funny thing is, despite skipping, Sony hasn't really lost out. They were still amongst the most talked about companies during E3 week and the biggest reveals were mostly third-party. Games which will make their way to PS4 in time and will likely sell more on PlayStation's console.
Xbox had an open goal, and fumbled it good and proper.
To further rub salt into the wound, this week the E3 2019 Game Critics Awards were announced and wouldn't you know it, the best game of the show – Final Fantasy 7 Remake – just happens to be a PlayStation exclusive.
The long-awaited Square-Enix release also scooped up the accolades for Best Console Game, and Best RPG.
Xbox, to their credit, picked up an award for Best Hardware/Peripheral for the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2. But that's about it.
Suddenly skipping E3 2019 doesn't look like such a bad idea now, after all.
Keep reading to take a look at the full list of Games Critics Awards Winners below.
E3 2019 Game Critics Awards Winners
Best of Show
Final Fantasy VII Remake
(Square Enix for PS4)
Best Original Game
The Outer Worlds
(Obsidian/Private Division for PC, PS4, Xbox)
Best Console Game
Final Fantasy VII Remake
(Square Enix for PS4)
Best VR/AR Game
Phantom: Covert Ops
(nDreams/Oculus Studios for Oculus Quest, PC)
Best PC Game
Doom Eternal
(id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, Xbox)
Best Hardware/Peripheral
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2
(Microsoft)
Best Action Game
Doom Eternal
(id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS4, SRead More – Source
