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E3 is reportedly coming back as three days of 12-hour livestreams

It's February and people keep talking about E3

E3 has historically been the biggest news week in the videogame industry, but it’s been on shaky ground over the past few years, and was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rumours that the Electronic Software Association, which organises E3, was looking to rebuild the event have persisted for some time, and a new report suggests the ESA plans to bring back E3 2021 in the form of a digital event including three days worth of 12-hour livestreams.

At least, that’s the pitch the ESA is making to publishers, according to VGC. Under the proposal, E3 would run for three days, June 15 through June 17, each consisting of a two-hour press conference from a console platform holder, a Q&A segment and aftershow, and hours of presentations from third-party publishers. A typical day’s stream would run for 12 hours starting at 10:00 EST, with regional replays scheduled worldwide.

The ESA still has to get publishers on board, however. VGC reports that some publishers would prefer to continue hosting their own events outside of E3, similar to the EA Plays and Ubisoft Forwards we saw last year – especially since an E3 slot would reportedly have a “six-figure” price tag.

“We can confirm that we are transforming the E3 experience for 2021 and will soon share exact details on how we’re bringing the global video game community together,” an ESA representative tells VGC. “We are having great conversations with publishers, developers and companies across the board, and we look forward to sharing details about their involvement soon.”

According to the report, Geoff Keighley will not be taking part in E3 this year, either. Keighley brought together last year’s Summer Game Fest events, and that branding will return this year – so there’s at least one other venue out there if publishers are looking to get a PR boost as part of a larger collection of events.

For now, we’re already getting a big stream on upcoming PC games courtesy of the Epic Spring Showcase later this week. The spirit of E3 is alive and floating around in February now, it seems.