In an amusingly frank statement, THQ Nordic has announced that it won’t have any presence at E3 2018 in June, because it’ll be too busy watching the Russian 2018 FIFA World Cup.

“It is with great regret that we at THQ Nordic must report that we will be unable to miss a single moment of this great sporting event," announced THQ Nordic without a hint of genuine regret. "Therefore, we will be forced to stay in our lovely Viennese beer gardens, blowing the froth off a couple, watching football and one or two cool press conferences on Twitch (looking at you, Devolver) instead of rocking it ourselves.

“We have to admit, we are going to miss our 9 AM pint of beer in the “Ye Olde King’s Head“-Pub in Santa Monica, where they show all matches live, but with the World Cup being held in Russia, it would mean a 7 AM beer – that’s too early, even for Austrians, let alone the Swedes.

“We are looking forward to presenting all our great upcoming games like Darksiders 3, Biomutant, Fade to Silence or Wreckfest and even some unannounced titles for the first time at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany and shortly after at PAX West in Seattle!”

I can’t really say any fairer than that, although 7am is never too early for a beer when the World Cup’s on. Presumably, they must have some trailers ready to blast out, but THQ Nordic’s otherwise going to have very little to do with the biggest gaming event of the year. Considering the size of the announcements it’s all too easy to get swallowed up anyway, so showcasing new titles at Gamescom and PAX probably works out better for THQ Nordic in the long run anyway.