Oculus is skipping E3 2017

UPDATE: MCV has since received the following statement from Oculus regarding its absence at this year’s E3:We will not have a booth at E3 – we’re focusing on the awesome games and announcements we’ll share throughout this year.”

Instead, the company will be focusing on events and opportunities where it can reach VR fans more directly, and will be making regular announcements about upcoming projects throughout the year.

ORIGINAL STORY:Virtual reality giant Oculus will not have a booth at the upcoming E3 2017, it has been confirmed.

VentureBeat reports that this will be the first time since 2014 that the virtual reality specialist will skip the trade show. Visitors will likely remember its booth at E3 2016, which was a bit of a high-tech marvel.

The company last year used to the show to demo its then upcoming new motion Touch controllers, but these are now out in the wild and there’s no indication that the company has any new notable hardware incoming.

Oculus has insisted, however, that it has plenty of games in the pipeline for the year ahead.

It has also been a fairly turbulent time for the company, with headlines focusing on not only the departure of its co-founder Palmer Luckey but also its high-profile legal spat with ZeniMax.

For those who are unaware,Luckey’s relationship with Oculus went sour last yearwhen it was revealed that he had financed a pro-Trump group called Nimble America that created memes designed to discredit Hilary Clinton.

He said at the time that he was deeply sorry that my actions are negatively impacting the perception of Oculus and its partners” and insisted he was a libertarian”, although clearly his support for Trump has endured.

After a prolonged spell out of the public eye,Luckey’s departure from the new Facebook-owned Oculus was confirmed last month.

Meanwhile, the legal situation between ZeniMax and Oculus is torrid, to say the least.ZeniMax was awarded $500min damages last month over a trade-secrets breach, but has since gone on totry and halt sales of the Oculus RiftVR headset.

Oculus joins the likes of EA and Nintendo in skipping the E3 2017 show floor.