Although E3 2020 was canceled earlier in the year due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirmed that it is moving ahead as planned with E3 2021, according to a report from GamesIndustry.biz.
Next year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo will be held on June 15 to 17, 2021 with the event set to be completely “reimagined” from what we have come to expect from the event over the last several years.
No further details about what a supposed re-imagining for the event would entail were shared in the announcement to the ESA’s partners. When E3 was canceled on March 11, the ESA did say that it was “exploring options with our members to coordinate an online experience to showcase industry announcements and news in June 2020.” But according to GamesIndustry.biz there is currently no update on if the company plans to hold a digital event in place of the canceled E3 2020.
Companies like Microsoft and Ubisoft have already talked about plans to host their own digital conferences in place of their usual E3 stage presence, while other developers and publishers like Square Enix, Sega, and Bandai Namco are partnering with gaming publication IGN to support a new “Summer of Gaming” digital event.
IGN’s Summer of Gaming is going to try and fill the gap left by E3 by combining announcements from partners like Square Enix, Sega, Bandai Namco, Amazon, Google, Twitter, Devolver Digital, and THQ Nordic, while also hosting publisher presentations. The publication will also focus on providing coverage through interviews, demos, and discussions with all of its partners.
Even if the ESA doesn’t act to fill the void left by E3 2020, people will still be getting all of the gaming news and announcements that they usually tune into the event for from other sources. Hopefully for fans, this reimagined concept for E3 2021 will help the event bounceback in a big way after the coronavirus pandemic shut things down.
