The virtual convention will have a dedicated online portal.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo is a yearly convention showcasing the newest and biggest developments in the gaming industry, from new game reveals and trailers to the latest hardware. Or, well, normally it is. E3 2020 was cancelled entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many publishers and developers opting instead to hold their own self-contained presentations, or just otherwise release trailers without any fanfare. The good news is that this year, E3 is coming back, though not quite in the same guise we’re used to.
In the interest of COVID-19 safety, the Entertainment Software Association announced that E3 2021 would be an entirely online affair. In lieu of a physical convention hall for attendees to wander around, the event will feature an online portal linking to various virtual exhibitor booths. These booths will have presentations, trailers, and other fun tidbits provided by most of the usual cast of devs and pubs that attend E3. There will also be livestreamed events and gameplay, as well as dedicated social media like forums and game leaderboards. So far, the confirmed attendees of the event are Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, and Warner Bros. Games. No, I don’t know what Sony is doing.
E3 2021 will feature games from Square Enix, Sega, Gearbox, and Bandai Namco, in addition to the previously announced partners. https://t.co/KxzydDodKm pic.twitter.com/gF1bNy7uGM
— IGN (@IGN) May 6, 2021
In addition to accessing this online portal through your computer, you can also get to it through a dedicated E3 2021 app that will be available on both the iPhone App Store and the Google Play Store for Android. The app will host the same content as the portal, as well as more mobile-oriented stuff like polls and featured Tweets. If you don’t feel like using the online portal or the app, you can still watch all of the broadcasts on E3’s Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook pages.
The event will run from June 12 to June 15. Preregistration is completely free and will be opening up later this month. If you’re in the business, there will also be a media access week starting on June 7, where members of the press can speak directly to devs and publishers to get their quotes and whatnot.
