E3 2021: Microsoft, Nintendo confirmed as participant - Sony not
E3 2021
E3 2020 has already fallen victim to the ongoing corona pandemic and this year the world's largest video game fair will not take place in the Convention Center of Los Angeles as usual. But in contrast to last year, this time it should at least work to set up a digital version of the game show. It was announced in February that the organizer, the Entertainment Software Association, was in talks with various publishers about possible concepts. This should include keynotes from the various manufacturers, live announcements and even an award show. In the meantime, the plans for the event from June 12th to 15th are apparently becoming more and more concrete.Recommended editorial content Here you will find external content from [PLATTFORM]. To protect your personal data, external integrations are only displayed if you confirm this by clicking on "Load all external content": Load all external content I consent to external content being displayed to me. This means that personal data is transmitted to third-party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy . External content More on this in our data protection declaration. As the online portal Destructoid confirms, the ESA has already confirmed a number of well-known publishers to the portal as participants in the digital E3 2021. Accordingly, Microsoft, Nintendo, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games and Koch Media are said to have already confirmed their participation. Of the big names in the industry, Square Enix, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard and, above all, Sony are currently missing. The Playstation Group had already decided against participating in the prestigious trade fair in 2019 and 2020. Of course, that doesn't say whether they will stay away from the new digital concept.
The latest information from ESA also shows that E3 will be freely available to everyone in 2021. With this, the organizations contradict the rumors that the show or at least some parts of it should only be accessible for a fee. In addition to the plans for this year, ESA is already looking to the future. A statement said it would be nice if everyone came together again for E3 2022. The organizers are therefore expecting the fair to return as a local event in the coming year.
Source: Destructoid
E3 is back and may help clean up the summer game mess
E3 is returning this year as the Electronic Entertainment Experience. The Entertainment Software Association announced today that is holding the annual E3 event as a digital showcase from June 12 through June 15. And it even managed to snag a few major partners for the festivities.
Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros., and Koch Media will all show some sort of content as part of E3. But what will those media presentations look like? And does this mean that E3 is back for good? Well, let’s talk about what you can expect from the event.
Of course, E3 2021 does not have an in-person component. The ESA is planning to bring that back in 2022. For now, the company is looking to remain all-virtual. And reports from Video Game Chronicle and others suggest the organization had a difficult time figuring out what that should look like.
The fundamental challenge for the ESA was always about value. What value does the group bring, and can it charge companies for providing that value? The trade alliance isn’t providing answers to these questions. But it’s likely safe to assume that the ESA has minimal oversight into how participating companies will present their content.
E3 2021 has a website and an app — and that’s about it. Nintendo, Microsoft, and the rest will likely handle all of the logistics and production beyond that, including broadcasting to external platforms that bypass E3 entirely.
And many companies were planning to hold their summer media presentations during the second week of June with or without the E3 branding, according to a source familiar with the plans.
One of the reasons so many gaming fans long for the return of E3 is because of 2020. The pandemic led to the ESA canceling the event last year, and nothing really took its place. Instead, we had multiple substitutes that all lacked the comprehensive excitement that E3 is known for. And worst of all, those events trickled out slowly over the summer and into the early fall.
So does a centralized, condensed E3 mean the end of the summer game mess? At least partially.
A strong E3 with Nintendo, Xbox, and Konami means that we should at least hear about a number of big games from well-known publishers. Nintendo didn’t have a summer Direct at all last year. And Microsoft spread out its Xbox announcements across multiple events, and maybe of those were delayed for weeks at a time.
This year, assuming we do not encounter another global crisis by June, Nintendo will return with another full-scale general Direct showcase. Microsoft, meanwhile, will package together Xbox and Bethesda into a back-to-back showcase with games like Halo and potentially a new Forza and Bethesda’s spacefaring role-playing adventure Starfield.
With big showcases like those, gamers should know a lot more about what the rest of the year will look like than they did during summer 2020.
But that doesn’t mean the mess is going away.
Digital events are easier to plan and livestream, so expect a lot of companies to continue trying to hold their own. But more major publishers may start holding their own events. Electronic Arts and PlayStation will each have something, but also expect a Square Enix Presents, a Bandai Namco Next, and more. But don’t hold your breath that everything will happen around the week of E3.
In other words, the mess will live on as well.
GamesBeatGamesBeat's creed when covering the game industry is 'where passion meets business.' What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. How will you do that? Membership includes access to:
