‘E3 game fair will continue as a digital event this year’
The Electronic Entertainment Expo looks set to continue this year. A spokesperson for the organizer confirms that “new E3 experiences for 2021” are being worked on. It would be a digital event, where developers can make their announcements.
The Entertainment Software Association, the organization behind E3, is said to have already outlined its plans for E3 2021. The organization is said to have pitched E3 2021 to various game publishers. The pitch documents have been viewed by Video Game Chronicle, which is publishing the plans. It would be a three-day event with live streams, to be held between June 15 and 17, as the ESA previously announced.
According to VGC, the organization plans to hold several keynotes, each lasting approximately two hours. An award show, a ‘preview evening’ on June 14 and several smaller streams from game publishers, influencers and other partners are also planned. Preview sessions for the press would be held a week in advance. Demos of certain shown are also being released on consumer platforms, something that Steam has been doing for some time with its Game Festivals.
The plans have yet to be approved by members of the ESA, which includes major developers and publishers such as Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Epic Games, and EA. Console manufacturers Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are also members of the Entertainment Software Association. Previously, E3 was one of the largest game shows in the world, but last year the event was canceled due to concerns about the Covid-19 outbreak. Several members of the ESA, in turn, held standalone live streams to announce their upcoming games. In previous years, some members also chose to organize their own events, including Sony.
The ESA has not yet officially disclosed its plans, although a spokesperson for the organization confirmed to The Verge that the company is indeed working on a new E3 for 2021. “We can confirm that we are transforming the E3 experiences for 2021.” The organization says it will share more details about its plans “soon”.
Former E3 contributor Geoff Keighley also confirms to VGC that the fair will return this year, although he is not involved in the event himself. Keighley dropped out of E3 last year due to a disagreement over the stock price. He, in turn, has set up another digital event called Summer Game Fest.