E3 Expo Plans To Go Digital For 2021 Event

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect on every walk of life, including the video-games industry.

Over the last 6 months, we've seen multiple consequences of the worldwide phenomena. Multiple games have been delayed, a number of titles have been canceled and classic gaming conventions haven't seen the light of day. The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 rounded off the year in a disastrous fashion, with developers and the publisher now determined to succeed. While it feels like this bad news is closer to the end, nobody knows where the gaming industry will be a year from now.

Almost a year ago, we found out that The Entertainment Software Association had decided to cancel E3 2020, bringing huge disappointment to a number of fans. Many held on to the possibility of an online event, but these rumors were shot down as “the pandemic made it difficult to assemble the event.” With convention-goers now wondering how likely the event is to run in 2021, a recent document leak may have given insight into this year's plans.

VIRTUAL E3 FOR 2021

According to official E3 2021 pitch documents sent to publishers, reported by VGC, The Entertainment Software Association is planning to run the event completely virtual, spanning three separate days. 

The event will reportedly still be held over the original date of June 15-17 and will consist of live-streamed content, media previews, and playable demos made available to viewers at home. These demos would include one-to-one assistance from developers, a feature seen regularly during the pandemic to test games.

Geoff Keighley, who quit the show last year following a disagreement of its direction, will once again not be involved with E3, following the successful launch of Summer Game Fest.

The 2021 plans still need to be approved by the ESA’s membership, which is made up of the biggest companies within the industry. At this stage, it is unclear how many of these companies have agreed to the plans.

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