E3 2021 dates for all-digital show confirmed, here's who is coming

The E3 2021 dates and an initial list of exhibitors has been confirmed for the digital-only industry event.

E3 2021 is set to begin on June 12 and conclude on June 15, and according to the Entertainment Software Association, participants will include "Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games and Koch Media, and more to come." That list notably does not include Sony, which seems to be continuing its trend of stepping back from E3.

While normally hosted at the Los Angeles Convention Center, E3 2020 was canceled last year in response to the COVID pandemic. The ESA initially planned to host its own online event last year as well, but later stepped back as member organizations hosted their own individual presentations instead. Other major in-person events including San Diego Comic-Con have also pre-emptively moved to an online-exclusive format this year.

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"For more than two decades, E3 has been the premier venue to showcase the best that the video game industry has to offer, while uniting the world through games,” ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis said in a statement. “We are evolving this year’s E3 into a more inclusive event, but will still look to excite the fans with major reveals and insider opportunities that make this event the indispensable center stage for video games.”

Reports circulated last week that E3 2021 would include certain online events which would be open only to paid attendees, however the ESA quickly shot them down by saying it would be a "a free event for all attendees."

Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime has said he doesn't find the idea of a digital-only E3 all that compelling - we'll see if Nintendo and the ESA can change his mind.

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.