Larry Hyrb (or as we all know him, Major Nelson) announced this morning on his blog that Microsoft will not attend Gamescom or Tokyo Game Show (TGS) this year. The company will instead attend smaller events across the globe.
As you saw at E3, we have a solid line-up of games launching this holiday, along with other entertainment experiences. We’ve changed our approach a little, though. This year, Xbox will be focusing on smaller, more localized promotions and experiences for press, partners, retailers, and customers around the world. Which means that as you might have seen on some of the news sites today, we won’t be taking part in gamescom or Tokyo Games Show this year.
Nintendo and Sega already said that they won't be at Gamescom either, but considering how massively large the event is, it's doubtful many will notice the absence of these three. Since Gamescom is open to the public, nearly half a million attended the show last year, and it's doubtful the numbers will lessen just because Microsoft will not be there with their first-party games.
No one should be shocked about their absence from Tokyo Game Show, as the Xbox has never sold very well in the land of the rising sun.
Gamescom is in Cologne, Denmark from August 15-19, and Tokyo Game Show is from September 20-23 (surely I don't need to say where TGS is located, right?).
