Last year, along with many other fun things, E3 was cancelled. This year's E3 will be held as a free online event, but it faces unprecedented competition. Originally scheduled to take place June 15-17, certain competitors have targeted the dates: Valve has renamed its semi-regular Steam gaming festival Steam Next and will now run from June 16-22.

The Entertainment Software Association has now announced final plans for this year's event and a change in dates: E3 2021 will run from June 12 to June 15 and will feature "Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, and Koch Media have announced their early participation." This is a pretty decent lineup of big names, although it remains to be seen if anyone will bring AAA games.

The absences of Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Sony are noteworthy, but major publishers missing E3 has been a trend since before the pandemic; Xbox head Phil Spencer was at least pleased with the news.

The press release emphasized that all E3s are free (this follows reports that the ESA was considering charging an access fee.) Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the ESA, said, "We are committed to making this year's E3 more comprehensive event, but we will continue to excite fans with significant announcements and opportunities to get inside information to make this event an indispensable centerpiece for video games," he added.

The press release concludes on an optimistic note: "ESA looks forward to returning to celebrate E3 2022 in person. I never thought I would miss that sweaty venue and the horrendously overpriced hot dogs, but yes, I guess absence makes everything richer.