After the cancelation of last year’s event and with some companies opting out of it altogether, there has been a serious conversation about whether or notE3should even be a thing anymore. The ESA obviously disagrees and is going ahead withE3 2021this year, albeit as a digital-only event in lieu of a physical one. It already had several big-name publishers confirmed to attend and now it has a bunch more.
The announcement was made via the officialE3Twitter account. Exactly ten more companies can be added to the list: Sega, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Gearbox Entertainment, XSEED Games/Marvelous USA, Freedom Games, Devious Eye Entertainment, Turtle Beach, Verizon, and Binge.com. The likes of Sega, Bandai Namco, and Square Enix are obviously the big ones. The fact that they weren’t part of the initial line-up meant there was every possibility that they would be skipping E3.
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Square Enixhad actually stated beforehand that it would be at E3 in some capacity, despite the fact that it has recently begun doing its own digital presentations. In fact, many companies had started doing this throughout last year due to E3 2020’s cancellation, so it’s surprising that so many still wish to attend E3 rather than do their own thing.
This brings the total number of attendees to 17. It would have been 18, butKonamirecently announced that it would have to drop out of the event due to timing issues. However, it did assure that it was working on key projects and it would still be making announcements this year. The remaining attendees consist of Nintendo, Microsoft, Capcom, Warner Bros. Ubisoft, and Take-Two.
Sony, Activision Blizzard, and EA remain absent and it will most likely stay that way. Sony has been skipping E3 rather regularly the past few years, with EA doing the same in 2019. As for Activision, twice now it has not had a booth on the show floor, which could have been a sign that it has been trying to move away from E3 as well
As for what these new additions could bring to E3 this year, that’s purely speculation, but some educated guesses can be made. Bandai Namco recently unveiled new information for itsTales of AriseRPG so it will likely have some presence. Some may hope forElden Ringto make an appearance as well.
For Sega fans, a lot of attention is focused on the30th anniversary ofSonic the Hedgehog. Sega has yet to announce any new game projects to celebrate the occasion, so it being at E3 could mean it intends to show something off related to the anniversary.
E3 2021will run from June 12 to June 15.
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