Live Event E3 2021 Canceled, Organizer Pushes Digital Event

GAMEFINITY.ID, Jakarta – A Los Angeles city document published last week reveals the live event E3 2021 has been cancelled. In a report published by the Los Angeles Convention and Tourism Development Board, the update included a statement that the live E3 2021 event was “canceled”.

The document states the Convention board worked with E3 organizer The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) on broadcast options at the Los Angeles Convention Center and the nearby LA Live complex. The City Council is also “working on” E3 licenses for 2022 and 2023.

The cancellation will mark the second year in a row that E3 events have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. As VGC exclusively revealed in February, ESA has pushed for E3 to go digital this summer, but it still needs support from major gaming companies.

According to the E3 2021 pitch document sent to the game’s publisher, ESA has outlined its proposal for this year’s event, which will feature three days of live streaming coverage held during the previously announced date, June 15-17.

Broadcast events will be complemented by media previews a week in advance, as well as demos released on consumer platforms, in accordance with the ESA proposal. However, E3 2021 plans still require approval from the ESA membership, which consists of the largest gaming companies in the industry and who have significant influence over the direction of the show.

ESA is already facing significant pressure to roll back E3. Several major publishers including EA, Sony and Activision have left the event in recent years, prior to the cancellation of the 2021 event. Many companies like EA and Ubisoft have actually enjoyed success when running their own shows digitally.

ESA said it would soon share exact details about this year’s E3 event, but could not confirm who had registered for the event.

“We can confirm that we are revamping the E3 experience for 2021 and will soon share the exact details of how we are bringing the global video game community together. We had pleasant conversations with publishers, developers, and the company as a whole, and we look forward to sharing details about their involvement soon,” an ESA spokesperson said.

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