According to the cancellation of the 2020 event because of covid-19, and a lot rumor and speculation Regarding the iteration of what was once the most important video game trade show in the world, the Entertainment Software Association today announced E3 2021, a free all-digital event running June 12-15. Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games and Koch Media will already participate.
The good news is that everyone can attend E3 for free this year. The other good news is that no one has to fly across the country or the world to participate in the annual LA-based sweat feast that is E3. Instead, we will all sit comfortably at home or at work and look at our screens as we always do, only now our screens will have the official E3 logo instead of the twenty digital events created last year to fill the void left by the cancellation of E3 2020.
Those other events will still take place, but we also have E3 2021, a show that digitally connects developers and publishers with fans around the world. ESA’s official announcement does not specify what such a digital show will look like. We suspect there will be plenty of trailers and pre-filmed interviews with industry insiders. Whatever form the great destroyer takes, Kotaku has confirmed that the event is completely free for attendees, without any elements behind a paywall.
“E3 has been the premier venue for more than two decades to showcase the best that the video game industry has to offer, while uniting the world through games,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, ESA president and CEO via a press release. “We are evolving this year’s E3 into a more inclusive event, but will still try to excite fans with big revelations and insider opportunities that will make this event the must-have centerpiece for video games.”
You heard the man. Indispensable. Just try to avoid it. You will likely fail. See you at E3 2021.