When E3 2021 was confirmed to be a digital only event, E3 organizers announced a list of developers, publishers and platform holders scheduled to take part. Square Enix wasn’t one of those initially announced, but in an interview with Nikkei, Square Enix president and CEO Yosuke Matsuda confirmed they are planning to be a part of E3 2021 and they’ll have some announcements to make.
While unconfirmed how they’ll take part, it will most likely by the publisher’s next Square Enix Presents showcase being flown under the E3 2021 banner, allowing them to both support E3 and continue with their own independent digital showcase.
So far for its 2021 lineup, Square Enix has released Outriders. They will be releasing NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… later this week and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is due out on June 10. However, Matsuda stated that beyond that, “we’ll make more announcements in the future, including at E3 in June, so please look forward to it.” Despite the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, the team has still continued development on its upcoming titles. Matsuda added he hoped the worst of the outbreak would be over this year, or by 2022 at the latest, and they’re building their lineup based on that assumption.
Also appearing at the E3 2021 digital event is Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, and Koch Media. The next Ubisoft Forward event, scheduled for June 12, is due to be part of the publisher presentations for E3 2021. Meanwhile Sony is a notable absentee at the moment; seeing as they didn’t participate in E3 2019 and were not due to take part in the cancelled 2020 event, it’s unlikely they’ll be a later confirmation. Many other publishers and developers are likely to confirm their plans at a later date, although rumors have been circulating that many bigger companies will be reserving their bigger main reveals for other events outside of E3.
E3 2021 will take place between June 12-15. The event will include live press conferences and a four day long video stream, but is not due to include on-demand demos. The latter was previously part of a proposed premium paid E3 experience that was pitched to publishers several weeks ago, but due to a negative reception to the plans from many people, the event will now be free for all attendees.