E3 2021 will not be taking place in its usual place in the Los Angeles Convention Center according to an 84-page document published by the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board that lists the live event as cancelled. The document does, however, say that broadcast options through LA Live and LACC are being worked on. Licenses for 2022 and 2023 events are also in the works.
The event was originally set to begin on June 15, 2021, which is consistent with the dates given by the Entertainment Software Association, the E3 organizer, after E3 2020 was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the organizers claimed that the plans for E3 2021 involved a “reimagined” version of the event.
By no means has there been any indication that E3 2021 is cancelled altogether. Recent reports indicate that this “reimagined” version is still in the works, according to documents sent to a variety of video game publishers and media partners. It isn’t clear if any of the proposed ideas have changed or will change as a result of the official Live Event cancellation or if these plans have been approved by the multiple game companies that comprise ESA’s membership.
If things do go as they are outline in the document, there will be remote preview events, downloadable demos, keynote presentations, and one-on-one remote meetings between members of the media and developers.
While it is unclear which publishers would be at the event, Sony has been absent for multiple years in a row, having announced that they wouldn’t be in attendance for E3 2020 even before the pandemic had changed the nature of in-person events.
E3 2021 is proposed to begin June 15, 2021. From there, it will run through June 17, 2021. Other events, including preview opportunities and an awards show could potentially occur outside of these dates.
