Sony's annual PlayStation conference has been canceled this year due to a lack of announcements - but PS4 owners still have plenty to look forward to
- Sony's PlayStation Experience will not be held in North America for the first time since its launch in 2014.
- Sony Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden said the event was canceled due to a lack of major announcements.
- The PlayStation 4 remains the most popular video game console in the world, and Sony plans to increase communication with fans moving forward.
Sony's annual PlayStation Experience video game conference will not take place in 2018 due to a lack of new announcements, Sony Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden has confirmed.
In past years, PlayStation Experience has been the launching pad for Sony's biggest reveals. But the PlayStation 4 has dominated the console market this year with major releases like "Marvel's Spider-Man" and "God of War," leaving Sony with just a few exclusive titles to promote going into 2019.
"We wouldn't have enough to bring people all together in some location in North America to have that event," Layden said during Sony's promotional blogcast. "We don't want to set expectations really high and not deliver on it. It was a hard decision, but we have determined that this year we will not hold PlayStation Experience."
Layden said the company didn't want to disappoint fans with a lack of meaningful news. Instead, Sony will focus on providing more frequent updates and communication to keep fans excited for the future of PlayStation.
During the blogcast, Layden said Sony is still preparing previously announced games, like "Days Gone" and "Dreams," for release in 2019, but those didn't warrant a full conference.
The current iteration of PlayStation Experience was launched in 2014 as a celebration of PlayStation's 20th anniversary. Along with announcing new games, PlayStation Experience offered panel discussions with developers, hands-on demos, and dozens of exhibitors over the course of a weekend.
Layden said the original goal of the event was to gather fans and bring them closer to Sony's new first party titles.
But even without the excitement of PlayStation Experience, PS4 owners can still look forward to exclusive games like "The Last of Us: Part II" and "Ghost of Tsushima." Plus, "God of War" and "Spider-Man" both set sales records for the PlayStation 4 this year, and the console continues to sell better than Microsoft's Xbox One or the newer Nintendo Switch.
Despite its sales advantage over the other consoles, Sony recently opened the doors to crossplay with other platforms. "Fortnite: Battle Royale" is the first game to allow PlayStation gamers to play with people on other consoles, but Sony has hinted that other games will soon be following suit.
Sony also rolled out full PS2 and PS4 game downloads for PlayStation Now subscribers in September, placing the service in direct competition with the Xbox Game Pass.