Also this year, Sony stayed away from the E3 2021, and this makes the PS5 manufacturer the biggest loser at the fair, says analyst Michael Pachter.
Michael Pachter claims Sony is “dumb” not going to E3
This year’s E3 was definitely not an event that players will remember for a long time. A large part of the event was made up of trailers that were sometimes more and sometimes less informative.
In addition, Sony, a company that has been an integral part of the fair since the founding of E3, skipped for the third year in a row by being absent, so that players had to forego one of the once-reliable highlights.
There has been a controversial discussion about how Sony’s decision is to be classified. Industry analyst Michael Pachter also joined the discussion and shared his own view of things.
In a recent leaseholder factor episode on SIFTD Games, the analyst was blunt about abstinence. He emphasized that, in his view, Sony is making a “huge strategic error abandoning E3.” The money that the PS5 manufacturer could save as a result would not outweigh the benefits.
“I think Sony is taking a wrong direction,” said Pachter. “I think they are making a huge strategic error abandoning E3. I think that is just the wrong thing to do, and I’m hopeful that they figure it out and they come back next year.”
Pachter cited $20 million as a potential saving while also admitting that not going to this year’s E3 was perhaps a wise decision. But E3 2019 was also skipped before E3 2020 had to be completely canceled due to the COVID-19 situation.
“I think it’s just a bad move. Really dumb strategy,” Pachter continued. “Because you can’t buy that much press for 20 million bucks. Having an event and getting all your fans to focus on that single event is really, really powerful, and I think that whoever’s advising their management that skipping E3 is a cost-conscious move and smart is just wrong. They’re just dumb.”
Regardless of this, Pachter comes to the conclusion by stating the following: “My bias is Sony is and will continue to be the biggest loser at E3 by skipping the show, and I think they really should wake up and recognize that it’s an opportunity for them to showcase their games – and they’re very good – and their hardware – which is very good – to the world when the world is paying attention. I hope they’re back in 2022. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”
What do you think about the statements of Michael Pachter?
