The ESA’s digital E3 2021, if it were to happen, would ditch the 2020 plans for turning it into a fan event and be something of a cross between a normal E3 and one of Steam’s seasonal festivals. The plan is to host the event June 15-17, the days a physical E3 would take place in 2021 under normal circumstances.
A press conference would kickstart each day at 10 a.m. PST, leading into “keynote presentations,” panels, gameplay demonstrations, awards, and more. Publishers and developers would stream game demos to media and consumers alike.
However, the ESA needs support from its major publishing partners. While there’s no word whether Sony and other big publishers are still planning their own separate events again, Geoff Keighley told VGC the Summer Game Fest is happening once again in 2021, and he won’t be part of the ESA’s plans for E3.
One other unnamed publisher told VGC they also would pursue their own presentations again this year instead of paying the ESA a reportedly six-figure fee to appear in E3.
While there’s no telling what manner of expo we’ll get this summer, it seems the E3 format of the past two decades is well and truly finished.
[Source: Video Games Chronicle]
