E3 2021 is more than a month away, and to quote Dr. Eggman, "You know what they say, the more the merrier!" The Entertainment Software Association has announced Thursday that Sega is confirmed to be attending E3 2021 along with Square Enix and Bandai Namco.
ESA took to Twitter to confirm the addition of Sega, Square Enix and Bandai Namco to the growing list of virtual E3 2021 exhibitors, joining the previously announced RSVPs of Nintendo, Xbox, Gearbox Entertainment, Warner Bros. Games, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, Capcom and Koch Media. The E3 organizers added some new and possibly familiar faces to the list of attendees, including XSeed Games, Freedom Games, Devious Eye Entertainment, Turtle Beach, and for some weird reason Verizon and Otter Box.
The only game company that won't attend E3 2021 aside from Sony is Konami. They released a statement on Twitter last week that they are pulling out of the conference due to timing issues and that they are "deep development on a number of key projects." However, they added that they show their utmost support for the ESA and other companies attending E3 this summer.
E3 2021 will be held from June 12th to 15th, and it'll take place completely online due to the continuing enforcement of social distancing mandates brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. And since it's been transformed into a virtual event, the convention will be free to all fans, no paywall required.
Sega, Square and Bandai Namco's addition to the E3 2021 roster has fans on pins and needles about what games each company will be bringing to the table this year. Especially with Sega, everyone is expecting them to announce a new Sonic the Hedgehog game, given that it's the Blue Blur's 30th anniversary and all they ever talked about so far is the Sonic movie sequel, a new Netflix show and a tabletop card game. The company has been severely quiet about any announcements regarding a new Sonic title since the onset of the pandemic last year, and fans are in a constant state of concern that they're planning a big new Sonic that'll knock everyone's socks off or they'll announce other games, like Warhammer: Total War 3, to keep dancing around the issue that they don't have any Sonic game news to share.
Source: ESA/Twitter