What to expect at E3 2021

After a year off, the summer's largest video game conference officially starts on Saturday, June 12th, featuring four days of major news and fresh trailers, all virtual and totally free for anyone to watch. The Entertainment Software Association canceled E3 2020 as the global COVID-19 pandemic shut down industries across the globe. Despite the shutdown -- or even because of it -- the video game market saw a record-setting year, and both Sony and Microsoft launched their ninth-generation consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, at the end of 2020. This year, E3 is back on and it's fully digital, taking place on live-streaming sites including Twitch and YouTube. Unlike previous years, attendance is totally free, and the show runs from June 12th through June 15th, with a handful of related events sprinkled among those dates.