E3 2021 slated for June next year, will be ‘reimagined’

E3 2019 — Hopefully the coronavirus won’t still be around this time next year (Pic: ESA)

The dates for E3 2021 have been announced, as IGN plans to run a Summer of Gaming event this year.

The cancellation of E3 2020 was certainly a heavy blow for the games industry as a whole, affecting fans, publishers, developers, and especially the ESA, the organisation that hosts the event.

Despite the cancellation, the ESA were confident in saying that E3 2021 would still go ahead next year. And while it’s still over a year away, the organisation has officially announced the dates it will be held: 15 – 17 June.

The news was originally shared with GamesIndustry.biz, and apparently, we can expect to see a ‘reimagined’ event. It’s not clear exactly what the ESA means by that, though it was leaked last year that it had planned to completely rebrand the event for 2020.

Following the cancellation, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ESA stated it was ‘exploring options with [its] members to coordinate an online experience to showcase industry announcements and news in June 2020.’ So far, no new information about such an event has been shared.

Whatever new form next year’s expo takes though it is likely to make it a more accessible, and cheaper, public event. Traditionally E3 has always been a trade show, with a limited number of the public only being allowed access in recent years.

Something closer to Gamescom, which has its own separate section for press but is primarily for the public, might be one obvious approach for the future.

For now, IGN has announced that it will be hosting a Summer of Gaming digital event this June, intended as a replacement for the lack of a traditional E3 this year.

Some big names have already been confirmed to be taking part, including Bandai Namco, Square Enix, and Sega, though the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are absent, probably because they intend to hold their own events.