E3 2021 Dates Moved, Nintendo And Xbox Confirmed For All-Digital Show
Last week, in response to a report claiming that the ESA was considering sticking some parts of E3 2021 behind a paywall, the organization confirmed that the digital show will be free for all while also saying that it would have more details to share in the near future. Today, some of those details came down the pipeline, with the ESA confirming new dates for E3 2021 and a list of exhibitors who have signed on for the show early.
Kicking things off, it seems that the dates for E3 2021 have shifted forward a little bit. Last year, shortly following the cancellation of E3 2020, the ESA announced that E3 2021 would take place June 15th – June 17th. With today's announcement, those dates have moved up to June 12th through June 15th.
The ESA also confirmed an early list of exhibitors who have committed to the show. The list so far includes "Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros Games, Koch Media, and more to come" according to an ESA press release today. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that Sony is missing from that list, but that doesn't come as much of a surprise considering that Sony sat E3 2019 out and announced it wouldn't be attending E3 2020 before it was ultimately cancelled.
The ESA also reiterated today that E3 2021 will be an "all-virtual show," owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Developers will be showcasing their latest news and games directly to fans around the world. The ESA will be working with media partners globally to help amplify and make this content available to everyone for free," the organization said in its announcement today.
Today's announcement was pretty light on details regarding what the show will actually entail, though we can definitely expect more information as we close in on the event. The ESA does close its announcement by saying that it's aiming to host E3 2022 as an in-person event, but for now, all eyes on are the digital event lined up for June. We'll let you know when more about the show is revealed, so stay tuned.