I think there is some short sighted thinking here on VG... over at resetera a few of us are thinking why this might be the case.

Early 2020 (march) launch for Ps5, why do E3, too early for talk about PS5...some negativity of course but its the end of the PS4/Xbox gen whatever MS shows wont impact this gen's sales (especially if a new console is then out by the next E3). Sony will have a show in September to talk about PS5.

No point going to E3 to talk about PS4 games that everyone already knows about, people will be people and just moan.

Well, that's surprising, and a little disappointing.

The main thing this tells me is they're clearly shifting all main, 1st party resources towards PS5 and they're inclined to let 3rd parties take over the PS4.
Another thing this tells me is whatever they have in development is not far along enough for them to reveal as early as E3 and the content they do have to show is mostly content we've already seen in past E3s (Death Stranding, Last of Us II, etc.) so there presentation would probably be disappointing if that were the case.
Or, and this is probably most likely, between PSX, TGS, and other press announcements, Sony doesn't see E3 as a priority anymore.

With the cancellation of PlayStation experience, and E3 2019. I think it's safe to say Sony are definitely gearing up for PlayStation 5 sooner rather than later.

Hmm... if this is true, I do hope Sony knows what they’re doing here, and this isn’t them reverting back to their arrogant phase. Many people do still pay attention to these events, and they’re an excellent place to show off road maps and future games. I

Well because they xancelled PSX and E3. These a big events where they could announce release dates for their upcoming games and get lots of press. Unless we get a release date at TGS i think it's fair to assume no major Sony game is coming out first half 2019(besides Days Gone) and Sonys second half is usually not full of exclusives since they let third parties get the spotlight. The PS5 is gonna come out in 2020 and it would make sense ot have these major games be cross gen.

Wait so nothing at E3 at all? A conference I can live without but to have no presence at all is strange, not even event like Nintendo?

If PS5 were ot be announced early 2019 i think they would have an E3 show. I thin early 2020 or late 2019 is more likely.

PSX 2019, 25th anniversary of PlayStation, Announcement of PlayStation 5.

It could still be 2019 either. I always expected them to release PS5 in the year of their 25th anniversary, but yes....why not in spring? a spring release seems to have worked well for Nintendo..although it would be a first for Sony. If anything this makes me excited for what’s to come next year.

I’m still surprised by this decision. Kodera said they’d duck a bit, but that’s not what I expected.

I think this is a good move. E3 is not important anymore. There are so many better ways to get information to consumers, and interact with consumers. Better to have a constant stream of big announcements throughout the year, than isolate the buzz around your platform to 1 or 2 events a year.

Even the lack of PSX this year turned out fine. We got updates on all the announced future titles, PS Now Downloads, and Cross Play. We didn't need a show to do that.

In all honesty, ever since the whole blow up against Microsoft, and the shift from E3 being a presentation, to an hour+ trailer reel, I couldn't care less about the show anyways. I loved E3 when it went over New Firmware, New Services, Hardware and Software sales, Non Gaming Content, and when Games where showed, you actually got developers on stage playing their games. Gamers killed E3 by taking the humanity out of it, and turing it into a bunch of people in a room watching YouTube.