Sony Interactive Entertainment will not be present at E3 2020. It has confirmed that the world's largest videogames trade show is not "the right venue for what we are focused on this year".

There was no PlayStation stand nor press conference at last year's E3 neither, prompting many to claim that Xbox stole the show. And, that could turn out to be the case again, considering the Xbox Series X will undoubtedly be at the Los Angeles event, whereby the PS5 will not.

Instead, reports GamesIndustry.biz, SIE will utilise "hundreds" of smaller consumer events to showcase its forthcoming games and products.

We would put good money on the PlayStation 5 also being launched at a dedicated event later this year, much like the PS4 Pro and slimmer PS4 models were at the tail end of 2016.

"After thorough evaluation, SIE has decided not to participate in E3 2020," a PlayStation spokesperson told GamesIndustry. "We have great respect for the ESA as an organisation, but we do not feel the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year."

The ESA has responded with a typically bullish statement: "E3 2020 will be an exciting, high-energy show featuring new experiences, partners, exhibitor spaces, activations, and programming that will entertain new and veteran attendees alike."

However, with no PlayStation and, likely, EA - which pulled out several years ago to host a separate event in LA at the same time - we wonder if any other big brands will follow suit.