Square Enix headliner Final Fantasy 15 is skipping this year’s E3 but will be getting a brand new demo in the near future

E3 is generally the place where all the major developers and publisher step up to the plate with their biggest upcoming titles. It is the event gamers and journalists wait all year for; despite last year’s lackluster performance. At last year’s expo the new console generation was just beginning and no one was ready to show off. This year however is expected to be far bigger. Titles like Halo 5: Guardians, Kingdom Hearts 3, and more are likely to make an appearance. Making an announcement today from Square Enix all the more surprising to the gaming world.

Hopes for Square Enix for this year’s E3 were especially big following the announcement they would be holding their own stand alone press conference after their floor show. Fans have been speculating on what they will be packing to the show. Square Enix has several major titles in development that gamers are craving new information on, including Rise of the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Two games fans were all but certain would make an appearance at the show were Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy 15. At least one of those games will be making its way to the expo.

Final Fantasy 15 game director Hajime Tabata has announced the game will be a no show on Square Enix’s Active Time Report briefing. Instead plans have been made to showcase the game at Gamescom in Germany this August. Tabata reasons for holding Final Fantasy 15 back should give fans some amount of comfort.

E3 doesn’t give us sufficient time to fully prepare. So I have been discussing with our marketing teams, and we’ve actually been considering Gamescom in August, instead of E3, as the target for the next major reveal.”

It’s a reasonable response to hold back the next reveal of their blockbuster title. Fans will obviously want as much time with Final Fantasy 15 as possible. Still the announcement brings up questions about what else Square Enix will be leaving out of this years E3. Kingdom Hearts 3 is an equally big reveal and if Final Fantasy is being held back for Gamescom whose to say Kingdom Hearts won’t get the same treatment?

Square Enix did announce a way for Final Fantasy fans to get a look at the next title in the series before Gamescom in August. They plan to release a new version of the Final Fantasy: 15 Episode Duscae demo. The new version of the demo takes players through the same content that has been updated based on fan feedback.

Giving them an inside look at how the game is evolving and to see how their input is affecting the game. They weren’t ready to give a firm date on the release of this new demo but the odds are high it will be sometime before the Gamescom show in August. Helping fans get through the wait between E3 their unveiling of the game in Germany