After a year of absence, E3 is back with an online event. Like most of the events this year and the last, E3 2021 will take place entirely online from June 12 to 15. While there were also rumors that viewers would have to pay for this event, they were confirmed false and it’s content will be available to watch for free. After the separated nature of last year’s Summer of Gaming and Summer Game Fest (which is returning this year), it will be nice to have many big events focused into one big week-long marathon.
But that begs the question: who will show up for E3 2021? There will likely be many big names in attendance, but in the current climate, a lot of companies have their own shows to fall back on. Not even the big three platform holders are guaranteed anymore, with Nintendo focusing on its own Direct initiative for several years now, and PlayStation bowing out of the E3 time window entirely. It will be a strange E3 for sure, but already there are companies announcing their presence at the show, so the event should still feel relatively familiar as the video game celebration it usually is.
Nintendo and Xbox
It should not be a surprise to hear that the usual suspects will be attending the event. Nintendo and Xbox, two of the major platform holders, will be present at the event to some degree. While the form its attendance will take has not been revealed, there is a good chance that Nintendo will host a Direct and stream some Treehouse gameplay. There is also a distinct possibility that it will show up at Ubisoft’s show once again for a third-party partnership.
Xbox is a little more mysterious; it had previously announced an Xbox summer event, which will presumably now take place during E3. The brand has a lot to announce now that the Xbox Series X/S is out, but what exactly it will bring to the show is unknown. Whatever the case, these two are always welcome faces around E3 time, and will hopefully put on another good show.
Third-Parties
There are also a number of third-party companies in attendance as well. These include Capcom, Koch Media, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. Interactive, and, surprisingly, Konami. Many of these will likely not hold separate conferences, though Ubisoft has brought its own event to E3 for the past few years. Capcom just released Monster Hunter Rise and Resident Evil Village to the public, so E3 should give it a chance to show off what else it has coming down the pipeline in the near/far future.
Koch Media, Take-Two, and Warner Bros. have a number of developers under each banner, so it will be interesting to see what each brings and where it shows up. Much more interesting, however, is Konami’s presence, as it has mostly pulled out of AAA gaming over the past few years. With so many historic franchises under its belt, fans are hoping to see something impressive from it — and not another Metal Gear Survive moment.
Notable Absences
Despite all the hype and companies confirmed, there are a few noticeable gaps in the roster. EA and PlayStation have once again elected to skip E3 and hold external events. There’s a good chance that EA Play will precede E3’s schedule like always, though when Sony will hold the next State of Play is up in the air. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart may receive a final trailer before its June 11 release date, so there is a good chance Sony’s big showcase will happen in the next two months.
Another company that is oddly absent from the announced attendee list is Square Enix, made even stranger by its conference presence at the past couple E3 shows. Square’s western and eastern branches certainly have things to announce, and it will hold a Square Enix Presents somewhere during the summer. Bandai Namco could do the same, but its digital show is only a rumor right now. Regardless, E3 2021 and the surrounding timeframe is looking strong, and it will likely only get stronger as more details come out.
E3 2021 will take place digitally on June 12-15.