The Entertainment Software Association has announced that E3 2021 is (still) happening, and it has confirmed that it will be a digital only event with a whole host of developers and publishers in attendance.
Of course, of the big three, only Microsoft and Nintendo are signed on to present at the event. Sony is notorious for skipping out on E3, even before there was a global crisis shutting down events of this scale. Ergo, it's clear that the company will continue to march to the beat of its own drum, and that's not a half-bad idea given the volatility of the circumstances. When E3 2020 disappeared, other new events manifested themselves into being in order to fill the void. Nintendo held its own Directs (as per usual), but we also saw the Guerrilla Collective shine the spotlight on indie titles that were on their way in 2020 and beyond.
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The Summer Game Fest was a bumper crop of games, reveals, and industry insights, and its finale was none other than gamescom Opening Night Live. In fact, a lot of these substitute events are scheduled to repeat this year, too, which is excellent news for games journalists like me who then don't have to pull all-nighters to cover every single game that there will ever be. Anyway. As well as Microsoft and Nintendo, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, and Koch Media are also on board.
"For more than two decades, E3 has been the premier venue to showcase the best that the video game industry has to offer, while uniting the world through games," said Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the ESA, in a press release. "We are evolving this year's E3 into a more inclusive event, but will still look to excite the fans with major reveals and insider opportunities that make this event the indispensable center stage for video games."
You might remember that the ESA had plans to transform E3 into a sort of festival for influencers in 2020. It intended to open up the event for another 10,000 people, and though the queues would obviously become much longer, they were going to offer "queuetainment" to keep attendees occupied while they waited. Personally speaking, that sounds awful. An all digital E3 bypasses the creation of this... "queuetainment", and saves carbon emissions by not requiring everyone to fly out to California. Everybody wins.
Featured Image Credit: ESA