In view of the pandemic aftermath, The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has affirmed its position to hold the annual trade event digitally this year. This comes after the 25th edition of E3, in 2020, had hit a wall due to COVID-19 concerns.
Monday’s off to an exciting start huh? 🚨😅 We’ve been hard at work on this year’s event and we can’t wait to provide the *full* picture of the E3 2021 experience. Keep an eye here for more big news from us soon! Until then, we’ll be back under the box 📦 pic.twitter.com/NKgWPIFRVC
— E3 (@E3) February 8, 2021
An ESA spokesperson informed The Verge that a complete transformation of E3 is under way. “We can confirm that we are transforming the E3 experience for 2021, and will soon share exact details on how we’re bringing the global video game community together.”
The hosting organisation intends to hold “multiple two hour keynote sessions from gaming partners” which includes an award show, a preview event and additional streams for game publishers, media partners and influencers. These will be preceded by a media preview that will be organised a week before the primary event. Game demos will be released to various consumer distribution platforms.
Reported by VGC in an article, the ESA has apparently also notified them through a ‘pitch document’ that it will allow partner companies to stream playable game demos to the media through “thousands” of meetings with assistance from developers.
ESA is, however, yet to receive approval for the E3 2021 plan from its membership, the rank and file of which composed of some of the biggest video game corporations in the industry.
“We are having great conversations with publishers, developers and companies across the board, and we look forward to sharing details about their involvement soon,” The ESA added in a statement to VGC.
