With last year's E3 being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, many developers and publishers took to hosting their own digital events in its place, prompting theories and discussions about whether E3 was even needed anymore. But, despite what its detractors say, E3 2021 is going ahead this year, albeit as a digital event instead of a live one, and will once again feature appearances from some of the biggest names in gaming, including Microsoft and Nintendo.
When the event was confirmed, there were some notable absences. For instance, Sony, but that's not too surprising considering it had already skipped E3 twice before. Another no-show was Square Enix, which was also expected given it has its own Square Enix Presents event happening in the summer. As it turns out, however, the company will be in attendance at E3 this year, according to its own president.
In an interview with Japanese outlet Nikkei, and translated by Aitakimochi on Twitter, Yosuke Matsuda was asked which Square Enix games he was most looking forward to in 2021. After mentioning Outriders, which released earlier this month and was published by Square Enix, the upcoming Nier Replicant, and the PS5 upgrade for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, he stated that the rest of the line-up of games will be announced later and specifically says that announcements will be made at this year's E3.
His words do seem to suggest that Square Enix will have some kind of presence at E3, but it's not clear whether he means it'll have its own showcase or if he only means that games will be announced during other companies' presentations. It could be similar to what it did with Final Fantasy 16, which was announced during one of Sony's PlayStation 5 presentations.
Square Enix is holding its own presentation in the summer, which it confirmed at the end of the last one it held. Maybe Matsuda means it will be included as part of E3's schedule, but the ESA has yet to formally announce Square Enix as part of E3 2021's line-up.
Whether or not Square Enix does attend E3 in any meaningful way, fans still have plenty to potentially look forward to once summer arrives. The last Square Enix presentation announced a brand new Life is Strange game and revealed a new trailer for its PlayStation 5 title Project Athia, officially called Forspoken. Extra details on these games are likely to be shared, as well as its Avengers game, which continues to receive updates. Its next major expansion will add Black Panther as a playable hero, so Square Enix is bound to have more info on that by the summer.
Source: Nikkei