The Entertainment Software Association has announced that E3 2021 will take place this year, and according to Digital Video Game Chronicle. The event will be held from 15 to 17 June.
“We can confirm that we are transforming the E3 experience for 2021,” an ESA spokesman said The edge. “And will soon share exact details on how we bring the global video game community together.”
According to Video Game Chronicle, the ESA set out its plans for E3 2021, with the intention of holding multiple two-hour main sessions of game partners, an awards show, a preview evening on June 14, plus a few small streams from various game publishers, influencers and mediavennote.
Video Game Chronicle also notes that the ESA’s outline suggests that the broadcast event be supplemented with media previews the week before, and that game demos expected to appear at the event be released on consumer platforms. The ESA will also enable partner companies to stream playable demos remotely to “media” over “thousands” of scheduled meetings.
Although the whole plan sounds ambitious, it still needs to be approved by the ESA membership, which consists of some of the largest companies in the industry, which also has a significant impact on the structure of the event. Traditionally, E3 has been one of the biggest weeks in the gambling industry, with the event featuring some of the year’s biggest announcements. In recent years, however, the ESA has come under pressure with redefining E3, as major publishers, such as Sony, have chosen to skip the opportunity altogether in favor of presenting its own events during the week that E3 normally holds. Following the cancellation of E3, many digital events were held to fill the void, especially the Summer Games Festival hosted by Geoff Keighley, the veteran in the industry.
This is the first time that the ESA is holding E3 after the organization canceled E3 2020 due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. But due to the pandemic, E3 is not the only event planning to go digital this year; Activision Blizzard plans to host an online BlizzCon from February 19 to February 20.