As we already know, E3 is back for 2021 but with an all-new digital format. With publishers, developers and presenters all showing off this year's new games remotely, the event hopes to get fans involved more than ever before by offering up an interactive online portal and a special app.
Today, the ESA has revealed how these will work. The online portal is said to be "the destination for all things E3," with public access going live on Satuday 12th June following a press-only period. It'll house virtual 'booths', profile and avatar creation, online forums, and more.
Registering for access to this online portal will be free and begins later this month. From 12th June, the public version of the portal will give you access to the following:
● Exhibitor Booths – Featuring special events, VOD content and articles, exhibitor booths will act as hubs within the portal for key announcements and game information tied to each exhibitor
● Lounges – Online gathering spots for all E3 attendees
● Forums – Special boards for focused online discussion and sharing among attendees
● Leaderboards – Gamified show elements that can be collected and displayed, encouraging fans to interact in as many ways as possible
● Profile Creation - All attendees can create their own unique profiles within the portal and app, which can be customized
The portal and app will also feature E3's live broadcasts, and it'll even boast live interactive elements such as viewer polls, featured tweets, and more. The shows presenters – who were revealed last month – will take viewers through "major publisher showcases, press conferences, industry panels, extended livestreams and special guest appearances."
"From the moment we decided to host E3 virtually, we’ve been focused on providing an interactive experience for fans around the globe that goes beyond the typical live stream," says Stanley Pierre-Louis, President & CEO of the ESA. "The result is a bespoke online portal and app that will allow fans, media and industry professionals to have an E3 experience designed to run parallel to the four-day broadcast, laying the foundation for interactive E3 elements to continue beyond this year’s all-virtual show."
What are your thoughts on this new portal and app idea? Are you feeling excited about this year's event? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 28
Why do I need an app to watch trailers on Youtube?
@jump
yeah, what's so bad about live streaming them on youtube and twitch?
I feel like this isn't meant for the people who just want to tune into the press conferences like they usually would on YouTube, Twitch, IGN, etc.
This seems to be for those who would have gone to the Expo in person and engaged with vendors on the showfloor to check things out, to try and get some semblance of that experience.
Instead it's probably going to be a mess of technical issues and trolling with moderation nightmares afoot, thanks to things like the lounges, forums and leaderboards they'll be running.
So it's an app with streams and chat rooms?
I’ll stick to Nintendolife
@jump because you probably get less ads in between the ads
@Friendly That's what YouTube Premium is for 😉
I'm so hyped for E3 (And wile I don't think I will be using the app) this year. This App looks like its for people who was at the even't before, and if you never did (Like me) this probably one wont matter to you.
This actually sounds pretty cool! I'll probably be joining in on the fun.
Too bad we can't get an app on the gaming systems themselves to let us play the demos. I'd have even spent a little cash for something like that.
Sounds interesting. I'll check it out.
That's actually kind of cool
@VenomousAlbino Or, you know,
AdBlock.
I'll just wait for Nintendolife to report on things worth knowing. They'll probably pop up on IGNs YouTube too.
As long as this means access to the E3 demos, which are pretty much shrouded in myth at this point, I'm in.
Too much of a commitment of time and effort, I'll just cherry pick the trailers I want to see on YouTube after the fact as per usual.
@TheBigK
That's the E3 I've always known lol. Nintendolife or IGN tells me about the upcoming games, and I then watch the trailer if it sounds interesting
Just make it so we can demo games and/or play multiplayer online demos. That's all I need for interaction.
Nope don’t need it!
If this is for game demos, I greatly fear the experience. This might mean laggy game streaming.
@TheRenegade908 amen to that
Most people would rather watch simple videos on YouTube or twitch, but I think they could make this a lot of fun digitally. I picture something like the expo hall map of a PAX convention where everything is labeled by company and/or publisher. You can zoom in on the map and it auto updates to show more detail, and when you zoom all the way in on a booth you get different "pop-out bubbles" for different aspects of the booth. Company/publisher/game info, videos (live or not), merch list, maybe an ad or two, etc. Zoom back out and scroll around to see what else interests you. The map could be organized logically (as I imagine most convention show floors already are) putting similar games or companies near each other. You could tag a booth that you want to check out later on. Maybe there's a way for you to add booths to a schedule list of upcoming live demos.
But of course we'll get a boring ad invested website with simple links to different locations and a clusterf**k of a message board.
Sounds cool, I'm in.
I’m assuming the youtube/twitch livestreams for the press conferences would still be there. I’ll just watch those.
Give us E3 demos pls pls pls pls especially you Nintendo
YOU CAN WATCH ON YOUTUBE
YES YOU CAN WATCH ON TWITCH
it's mentioned in their official report that they will have dedicated streaming channels for both and even more... so relax and stop raging over a dumb app.
If this article actually decided to mention that, you could save your own readers a headache....
Uhhh okay seems like an lot of work that most don't really need
I mean before it was just going online and checking the live streams while we talked about them on sites like this and discord right
I'll just wait until we can go to cons in person again, we're approaching that point. Can't stand trying to do social stuff online.
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