Despite ESA’s best efforts to move ahead with E3 2020 in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, last year’s physical show was finally canceled – and plans for an alternative online event, originally scheduled for June, were eventually abandoned in favor of a “reimagined” show this year. Everything has been a little quiet on the upgrade front ever since, but now ESA has emerged to confirm its plans for an E3 in 2021 are still in progress.
Dates for E3 2021 have been set since last April and, although a physical event has not yet been officially ruled out, a VGC report, based on field documents seen by the publication, suggests that a digital event taking place from June 15 to June 17 it is now ESA’s preferred approach in 2021.
According to VGC, ESA is proposing an E3 2021 that consists of a viewing night on June 14, an award show, two-hour presentation sessions from game partners and smaller flows from publishers, influencers and partners from media. This would be complemented by media previews for the main titles a week earlier, meetings scheduled between developers and media featuring playable demos broadcast remotely, as well as consumer demos on all platforms.
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In a statement provided to the VGC in response to its report, ESA insisted that it was having “great conversations” with editors, developers and companies about “transforming the E3 experience for 2021”, with “exact details” promised soon.
However, it is currently unclear how many publishers expressed interest in adopting ESA’s E3 digital proposal (which has not yet been voted on by members), especially considering that a significant number of companies – including Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Square and Ubisoft – all successfully held their own digital events after the cancellation of E3 last year.
In fact, VGC cites at least one major publisher as indicating that it will do its own show again in 2021, rather than paying ESA to get involved in a digital E3. In addition, Geoff Keighley, who left E3 and subsequently launched his series of digital announcements and revelations Summer Game Fest in 2020, told VGC that he plans the showcase to return this year.
Following the VGC report, ESA posted an additional statement (and inexplicably with the theme Metal-Gear-Solid) to Twitter, confirming: “We have been working hard at this year’s event and can’t wait to provide a complete picture of the E3 2021 experience.” Interested parties are advised to “Keep an eye here for more news from us soon!”.