Xbox has officially confirmed that it will not be involved in E3 2023's showfloor this year, though it won't be entirely uninvolved with E3's digital plans. Prior to the pandemic, E3 was seen as one of if not the most important video game convention every year. Frustrations with E3's organizers, the ESA, combined with the pandemic leading to events going online, led to E3 alternatives taking root. Now, Xbox is just one of many companies that appear to be forgoing the E3 showfloor going forward.
E3's return in 2023 was officially announced in June 2022 after last year's event. Even before then, there were reports that the ESA would be returning to a physical event in 2023. It was described as a "Hybrid" event with both a physical showfloor and digital presentations, which has since proven accurate. The response to the E3 convention's return has been lackluster, however. In late January, it was reported that Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox were all going to skip E3. Sony hasn't participated in E3 for some time, Nintendo officially confirmed the report shortly thereafter, but Xbox had yet to confirm until now.
In an official statement made to IGN, Xbox has confirmed prior reports that it would not be participating in the physical convention side of E3 2023. The statement explicitly clarified that Xbox "will not be on the E3 showfloor," but also made clear that Xbox isn't splitting from E3 entirely. Still, the lack of Xbox, the last remaining of the big three yet to confirm its participation in E3's showfloor, is a huge hit to E3's convention plans for this year.
While Xbox won't be part of E3's physical presence, it does have plans to associate with E3's digital efforts. That's not to say those plans will be substantial, however. Xbox says that it will be co-streaming its Xbox Games Showcase on June 11 as part of E3 Digital. Needless to say, a co-stream of an independent event isn't exactly much of a partnership.
Still, Xbox hosting its Xbox Games Showcase during the same week as E3 will likely be a big victory for the event. The attention that Xbox draws will filter out to E3's other plans for the week. Even if Xbox never mentions E3 once during its presentation, it will still be tacitly associated with the convention, and the week will be that much more successful as a result.
Xbox will benefit from the attention that E3 draws, too. The company needs all the positivity it can get right now due to a frustrating drought of first-party game releases, the delay of Starfield, a tumultuous acquisition process for Activision Blizzard, and PlayStation's continued dominance of the console market. Xbox has used E3 to build up hype for its consoles in the past, and it appears to be doing so again -- even if it isn't actually attending E3.