E3 2021 is finally here. After being canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, E3 is back for 2021 in an all-digital format, kicking off on June 12th. Some big reveals have already hit — although technically not a part of E3, Thursday’s Summer Game Fest’s Kickoff Live event was packed with news, including a trailer and release date for the highly-anticipated Elden Ring and the announcement of Death Stranding: Director’s Cut for PS5. (You can catch a full replay of that show here.) And over the next few days there still are big conferences from Ubisoft, Microsoft and Bethesda, and Nintendo.
If you want to attend the virtual E3 as a fan, you can register to attend on E3’s website. (I will warn you from personal experience that the E3 portal and website are pretty bad.) But if you just want to follow along with the press conferences and announcements, we’ve put together a timeline of some of the biggest events to look forward to.
When is E3?
E3 takes place from Saturday, June 12th, to Tuesday, June 15th.
Saturday, June 12th
- 11AM ET: Guerrilla Collective (note that this is the second Guerrilla Collective show — the first took place on June 5th)
- 1PM ET: E3 broadcast pre-show
- 3PM ET: Ubisoft Forward
- 4:30PM ET: Devolver Digital MaxPass Plus showcase
- 5PM ET: Gearbox E3 Showcase
- 6PM ET: The Upload VR Showcase
Sunday, June 13th
- 11:45AM ET: E3 broadcast pre-show
- 1PM ET: Microsoft’s Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
- 3:15PM ET: Square Enix Presents
- 5PM ET: Warner Bros. Games’ Back4Blood
- 5:30PM ET: PC Gaming Show
- 7PM ET: Future Games Show
Monday, June 14th
- 11AM ET: E3 broadcast pre-show
- 5:30PM ET: Capcom showcase
- 6PM ET: Razer E3 keynote
Tuesday, June 15th
- 11AM ET: E3 broadcast pre-show
- 12PM ET: Nintendo’s Nintendo Direct, which will have “roughly” 40 minutes of information about upcoming games, followed by a Treehouse Live with about three hours of gameplay demoed.
- 5:25PM ET: Bandai Namco’s E3 presentation
- 6:35PM ET: GameSpot’s Play for All Showcase
- 7:45PM ET: Official E3 2021 Awards Show
How can I watch E3?
E3 will be airing its broadcast on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. For the presentations hosted by individual companies, you may be able to find official streams on their social platforms.
Update June 11th, 7:30PM ET: Made updates to the scheduled and added details about what was announced at Summer Game Fest Kickoff Live.