Sony Just “Wanted to Add Some Drama” to Their E3 Presentation This Year
Okay, so we can all agree that this year’s Sony E3 press conference was, well, a bit different. While E3 is traditionally used for publishers to show what they have up their sleeves, going for the shock value of new and exciting announcements, Sony had something else in mind. Instead of announcing a ton of new games, the company took a deep dive into four massive upcoming titles, with a few smaller announcements and live musical numbers dispersed throughout. So why did they do this? Chief Operating Officer Simon Rutter explains it all in a new interview.
This year Sony took the stage at E3 to show off The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-Man, and Death Stranding in great detail, each receiving their own 10 to 15 minute presentations. Of course, they needed to show off some new stuff, so the company included a bunch of smaller, brand new announcements as well. While the show had a bit of a mixed reception, Sony Europe’s COO Simon Rutter shares his thoughts about not only the showcase, but also the fans thoughts of it. “The reception I think has been mixed,” Rutter said. “People have really enjoyed the games themselves, and appreciated the quality of what we showed. There was also some appreciation of what we were trying to do with the construction of the event, with some criticism as to how that actually flowed, the pacing and the logistics. For the last three years, we’ve been trying to inject a bit of drama and theatrics into the proceedings, to make it more than a simple presentation. We tried to evoke the spirit of the games.”
Of course, he was quick to talk about the criticism Sony has received as a result for not going for the regular shock and awe performance at E3. “Some of the coverage this year has been a bit critical of the lack of new stuff, probably a consequence of people announcing things when they are early in production. Some of that is to do with the fear of leaks, of not being able to present the title in the way that the creator wants it to be presented. But the desire [for new announcements] is met with the reality of the production timescale: how long it actually takes you to release a game.”
It will be interesting to see what Sony will do at next year’s E3. What did you think about their presentation? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to keep it locked for updates on all of the games covered at E3 2018 and more!