Microsoft moved Xbox E3 media event to Sunday so they weren’t “just in the middle”

E3 2017 is still a couple of months away, but Microsoft is already gearing up for what is expected to be one of the most interesting media events of the year. Two weeks ago, the company announced that it would hold its Xbox E3 briefing on Sunday, June 11th at 2PM PDT, two days before the show will open to the public.

In the past, the Xbox team used to hold its E3 media briefing on Monday morning, but this year Microsoft made the bold decision to be the company that kicks off E3 by moving its event a day earlier. Talking to IGN, Xbox head Phil Spencer explained that this change will give the team a better opportunity to lead the gaming narrative:

“I liked opening E3, and I felt when we weren’t opening E3 we were… just in the middle,” Spencer said. “The other platform holders were right behind us, and I felt like, ‘okay well if we’re not getting the benefit of opening E3, we’re not closing….’ It unshackled us to kind of try to go do something else. So we’re gonna try it, we’ll learn.”

Indeed, Microsoft’s previous Monday morning briefings used to be followed by a “cascade of briefings that the press is having to run to, to get everything done,” explained Spencer. “Going on Sunday I think will allow us to tell our story, and it will sit there a little more as opposed to everybody else just instantly following up with their own briefings,” he added.

Microsoft is expected to unveil Project Scorpio during its E3 briefing, a new Xbox console that will support true 4K games, VR and give some good competition to Sony’s Playstation 4 Pro. The company will also reveal more details about its lineup of Xbox exclusives games for 2017, which Spencer is really excited about.