E3 2021. After the large number of events suspended during the past year, great efforts have made us recover much of our leisure time, with the reopening of some mass events such as stadiums. However, with a global health problem still present, last February the Entertainment Software Association, the association in charge of the E3 video game fair, announced the complete transfer of this year’s celebration to digital format.
Although this will greatly reduce a part of the experience for users and fans, expectations for this E3 2021 continue to be quite high , with the return of some of the major developers already confirmed, and an extended weekend in the anticipated game announcements, unreleased titles, and even some major surprises for the video game market are expected.
When is E3 2021?
Keeping the original dates that were proposed for the face-to-face event, this year E3 2021 will begin next Saturday, June 12 at 11:00 a.m. on the, extending its programming for four days until the early hours of Wednesday, June 15., with an awards ceremony and closing ceremony that will take place from 1:45 AM.
However, there are some developers who have already set their independent presentations around the fair itself, starting today.
Where is E3 2021?
As we mentioned before, this year the fair will be limited to an entirely online format , with the announcement of the cancellation of the usual space in Los Angeles.
However, this will allow a greater freedom for the deployment of resources destined to the realization of the presentations, as well as for the follow-up by the fans. And it is that this fair already has extensive experience when digitizing its contents, having already had the most complete access and coverage for years.
How to attend E3 2021
Eliminating the movements of the face-to-face celebration, this year attending E3 2021 will be easier than ever. We will only have to access the official website of the event and pre-register to obtain free access to the video that will be shared live by the organization, on the same day June 12, in which the different conferences and interviews of all participants.
Although if we are only interested in the part of game announcements, we can also follow the fair through its official channels and social networks :
Who is participating in E3 2021?
As in previous years, we will once again see a slight segmentation between those who prefer to maintain maximum prominence, holding their own conferences in the days prior to the fair, and those who will participate in it. Thus, among the first confirmations, the already recurring absence of Sony will stand out, who could even ignore its presence after the recent celebration of the last State of Play focused on Horizon Forbidden West.
Electronic Arts will also be missing , although if it has already confirmed its EA Play event, it seems to have chosen to move it until next July to completely separate from the framework of the fair. However, this delay is justified by the indirect presence of their games, with the already confirmed announcement of the new Battlefield, as well as some advances in the conferences of Microsoft or Nintendo.
Part of the EA studies, other major absences will be BioWare, on which news is expected from the new Dragon Age, and the next installment of the Mass Effect saga; and Codemasters, already prepared to publish some annual sports titles such as F1 2021, next July.
Although that does not mean that we continue to have the participation of others such as Nintendo, Microsoft, Square Enix, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Warner Bros., Devolver Digital, Koch Media or Gearbox, among others; in addition to the surprising return of Ubisoft, which will celebrate its Ubisoft Forward within the hours of the fair instead of the previous independent event. Although the participation of the latter has some “but”, since the company is expected to present its new Battlefield in its own digital presentation today, June 9.
Finally, we will also once again have the dedicated spaces of the PC Gaming Show, exclusively dedicated to computer titles; as well as the presentations of some software and hardware companies such as Verizon, Intellivision, VENN or Razer. Thus, the absence of the conference entirely dedicated to virtual reality games stands out, although given the confirmed presence of Valve within the PC Gaming Show, a possible announcement related to Valve Index is not ruled out.
Below we detail the details and advances shared by some of them:
Ubisoft
With few details but plenty of titles, this Ubisoft Forward will take a complete tour of the company’s upcoming releases, with a special focus on the recently advanced Rainbow Six Quarantine, Far Cry 6, and Riders Republic, also adding new additional content for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. and Rainbow Six Siege, in addition to the audiovisual works Mythic Quest and Werewolves Within.
The Ubisoft conference will take place on the 12th and we can follow it from any of the company’s official channels:
Xbox / Bethesda
In the case of Microsoft, the themes of its presentation seem quite clear, the company itself having shared a teaser image in which we can clearly discern the presence of Halo Infinite, as well as the slightly hidden reference to the original Starfield teaser, so it seems almost certain that these will be two of his main titles.
However, new details are expected of other advanced titles such as the new installment of Fable, Forza Horizon 5, Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, or Hellblade 2.
The Xbox and Bethesda conference will take place on the 13th. and we can follow it from any of the company’s official channels:
Square enix
Square Enix has promised to introduce a new game developed by Eidos Montreal, the studio behind Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. However, everything indicates that this could be the rumored Guardians of the Galaxy game, especially after the collaboration of this study in the development of Marvel’s Avengers.
On the other hand, the big announcements are expected to focus on the Final Fantasy franchise. Although news about Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 is not expected, given the proximity of the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, this could be the perfect setting to advance new details about some of the new projects developed around this title.
In addition, after a year of long waiting, and the only addition of a few content on the official website of the game, undoubtedly all eyes are on Final Fantasy XVI, for which we could see not only new images, but even a first one. release date. And is that despite the rugged situation, the Creative Business Unit III team already announced that the title had a fairly advanced development and that it would arrive ” sooner than we could expect “.
The Square Enix conference will take place on the 13th and we can follow it from any of the company’s official channels:
PC Gaming Show
The event will last around 90 minutes and will again be hosted by Sean “Day9” Plott, a person who has been linked to computer games throughout his career as a broadcaster, commentator and professional gamer. According to PC Gamer itself, the program will feature “as many great trailers as possible, a total of 39 new videos, game announcements and interviews.”
On the other hand, if the latest statements by Gabe Newel had already managed to revolutionize the fans, the fact that the developer is preparing an important ” announcement about Steam “ during this conference, has finished setting off all the alarms. And it is that despite the great secrecy to which this company has accustomed us, everything indicates that new details will be advanced about SteamPal, the portable console project leaked a few weeks ago.
The PC Gaming Show conferences will begin on the 13th and we can follow it from any of the official channels of the company:
The Capcom conference will take place on the 14th and we can follow it from any of the company’s official channels:
Nintendo
While at the moment Nintendo has not shared any official information, the rumors seem quite clear for its presentation. And the safest bet is that a good part of the appointment is dedicated to promoting the latest games already announced and dated for their imminent launch, with Mario Golf: Super Rush for the month of June, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for July, and No More Heroes 3 for August.
Although it is not ruled out that, bearing the “Nintendo Direct” label, they take advantage of the fair to announce some of the new additions to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, since the last two fighters of their Fighter Pass Vol. two.
On the other hand, it is also customary for the Japanese company to take advantage of this fair to announce a surprise game, with three major titles in the sights of the fans: Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4, and the sequel The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. In fact, this year is the 35th anniversary of both Metroid and The Legend of Zelda sagas, so a possible compilation or remastering of their classic games is not ruled out.
The Nintendo conference will take place on the 15th at 12:00 p.m. and we can follow it from any of the official channels of the company: