Two of gaming's biggest names will be foregoing their Gamescom press conferences this year.
Update 1 - 7.14.16
On the heels of Microsoft's announcement that they will not be holding a press conference at Gamescom 2016, reports suggest that Sony will also not be holding a press conference at the event this year. This news comes to us courtesy of VideoGamer who reported that a Playstation France representative informed them that Sony will not be hosting a media event at Gamescom 2016.
This would mark the second year in a row that Sony has not held a Gamescom press conference.
Though no reason has been given as of yet regarding the company's decision to skip the press conference this year, their reason in 2015 was based on a decision to host a conference at Paris Games Week which was held shortly after Gamescom.
We'll have more information on this story as it becomes available.
Original Story - 7.13.16
Xbox fans hoping to learn more about the One S, Project Scorpio, and Microsoft's various upcoming major games at Gamescom 2016 may have to wait just a little longer.
In a post on Xbox Wire, Xbox marketing General Manager Aaron Greenberg writes that Microsoft will not be holding a press conference at Gamescom 2016.
Although Greenberg does not specifically mention why Microsoft is opting out of this year's Gamescom media briefings after the company has been regularly holding conferences at the event for some time, he does write about a Microsoft FanFest event that will be held at Gamescom.
"While we will not be hosting a media briefing this year, we’re planning a new and more intimate Xbox FanFest experience for our fans across Europe and worldwide attending gamescom 2016," writes Greenberg. "We will be sharing more details on our Gamescom 2016 Xbox FanFest soon."
Greenberg has not yet shared those details, but he does mention that Microsoft fans in attendance at Gamescom 2016 will be able to go hands-on with several major upcoming Xbox One releases, including Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Halo Wars 2, ReCore, and Sea of Thieves. These games can be played at Microsoft's physical booth at Gamescom, which will be set-up in "Hall 8 of the Koelnmesse near the north entrance."
At this time, we can only speculate as to why Microsoft will not be holding a traditional press conference at Gamescom 2016. It's quite possible that they simply have no need to host an additional conference so close to their big E3 reveals, though we hope to receive a more definitive official statement as Gamescom's August 17th start date draws near.
