The Electronic Entertainment Experience 2021 (E3 2021) was the 26th and final E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products. The event, organized by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), ran as a virtual, online-only event with free access to all, from June 12–15, 2021.[1][2][3]
Virtual events included keynote sessions from major publishers broadcast from a live stage in Los Angeles, an awards show, and a preview night, as well as helping companies to hold online private meetings with media and businesses. Because of the online-only nature, the event had been rebranded for the year as the Electronic Entertainment Experience rather than the standard Electronic Entertainment Expo.[4]Greg Miller, Jacki Jing, and Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez served as hosts of the virtual events.[5]
E3 2021 followed the cancelled E3 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic and after the ESA could not work out a replacement event in time. The ESA had intended to hold an in person event in 2021 during its normal June dates, as stated to partners in April 2020, but had to alter their plans due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.[6][7][8] E3 2021 was free for everyone to attend.[9] While the 2021 event was entirely online, ESA planned to return to an in-person event by 2022,[10] though these plans were scrapped and the in-person event was cancelled in January 2022,[11] and E3 2022 was cancelled altogether on March 31, 2022, including the digital event.[12] In July 2022, it was confirmed that E3 2023 would mark a return to the in-person event.[13] However, the lack of interest and attendance of major publishers caused the event to be cancelled as well,[14] leading to the announcement of the event's official discontinuation in December 2023.[15]
To host the online event, the ESA offered a mobile app and online portal to the public. Members of the media and press had access to this app and portal on June 7, for a media access week prior to the event. The public obtained access on June 12. The app and portal were used for accessing game showcases, developer panels, and press conferences, with some of this content also mirrored onto streaming services.[20] Members of the media were able to register for access starting on May 24, while industry professionals and creators and influencers were able to register on May 31. General members of the public were able to register on June 3.[21]
Editors from IGN, GameSpot, PC Gamer, and GamesRadar+ collectively decided on the Best of E3 Awards on June 15, 2021. Among their picks, Forza Horizon 5 was named as the Most Anticipated Game overall, with the Microsoft and Bethesda event as the Best Presentation.[35]
Featured games
This is a list of notable titles that appeared by their developers or publishers at E3 2021.
The Guerrilla Collective, a group of indie game developers and publishers, held a two-day showcase of new game announcements over June 5 and June 12, 2021.[36][37]
Games announced during the two-day event included:[37][38]
Geoff Keighley's second Summer Game Fest kicked off around the same time as E3 2021 and will last two months, through Gamescom in August 2021, featuring a range of promotional events outside of E3. Though Keighley had already stepped away from participating in E3 2020 before its cancellation, he arranged the first Summer Game Fest as a replacement for the cancelled show.[39]Sony and the PlayStation brand had announcements during this event, forgoing E3 as they have done so from previous years, instead opting to do a dedicated State of Play event for the summer on July 8, 2021. Announcements made during the event include:
The Summer Game Fest included the first Tribeca Games Spotlight on June 11, 2021, featuring games that had been nominated for the inaugural Tribeca Film Festival Video Game award.[42] These games included:[43]
Koch Media presented a showcase on June 11, 2021, at 12 p.m. PDT., as part of the Summer Game Fest.[44] Alongside introducing their new publishing label, Prime Matter, Koch Media's presenting covered the following games:[45]
Wholesome Games held its Wholesome Direct event on June 12, 2021, at 10 a.m. PDT. It featured over 75 indie titles from small developers around the world.[48][49]
Devolver Digital held its presentation on June 12, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. PT.[50] Games presented included Shadow Warrior 3, Trek to Yomi, Phantom Abyss, Wizard With a Gun, Death's Door, Inscryption, Devolver Tumble Time, and Demon Throttle.[51] As with its recent presentations, the Devolver Digital continued to use the humor based on the character of Nina Struthers, this time presenting their new games as part of a new monetization scheme, the "Devolver MaxPass+". As part of the actual presentation, Devolver sold a single "NFT" copy - a "non-fuckwithable tape" rather than a non-fungible token - of the presentation which sold for $1,000, the funds going to the Scratch Foundation charity.[52]
UploadVR Showcase
UploadVR held a presentation focusing on virtual reality games on June 12, 2021. Among games featured in this presentation included:[53]
Freedom Games held its first event on June 15, 2021. Games featured during the presentation included:[59]
Airborne Kingdom
Anuchard
Cat Cafe Manager
Coromon
Dark Deity
Dreamscaper
Monster Outbreak
One Lonely Outpost
Sands of Aura
Slaughter League
To The Rescue!
Tower Rush
Yooreka Studio
Yooreka Studio held its presentation on June 15, 2021. Games featured during the presentation included:[60]
Extremely Realistic Siege Warfare Simulator
The Immortal Mayor
Loopmancer
Metal Mind
Mohism
Reshaping Mars
The Swordsmen X: Survival
Tales of Wild
New Blood Interactive
New Blood Interactive held its presentation on June 16, 2021. Games featured during the presentation included:
Amid Evil
Dusk 82
Faith: The Unholy Trinity
Fallen Aces
Gloomwood
Ultrakill
Unfortunate Spacemen
Steam Next Fest
From June 16–22, 2021, Valve ran its Steam Next Fest, a rebranding of its prior Steam Game Festival which it first ran in 2019. During the event, Valve had hundreds of game demos available via the Steam platform along with livestreams with developers and selected game sales.[61]
EA Play
Electronic Arts had its separate EA Play event on July 22, 2021. Games shown off in the event included:[62]
GLITCH debuted its Future of Play Direct showcase on June 12, 2021. It featured 22 titles from developers around the world. The games included were: [64]
