E3 sets up awards show and panels for this year’s event

What are the top games of the show, and the issues facing the industry?

Usually prior to E3, the Editors of many of gaming’s biggest sites gather a couple of weeks before the expo to select their picks for the biggest games of the show during E3 Judge’s Week. Due to everything being virtual this year, that event won’t take place — instead the expo will host a full awards show on the final day to make those top game calls.

The ESA have announced that the E3 2021 Awards will take place on Tuesday, June 15th. The awards will be selected by Editors from IGN, GameSpot, PC Gamer, and GamesRadar+, and select the Most Anticipated titles from publishers and platform holders, all of which will have been revealed or discussed during the 4-day online event.

Source: E3

E3 will also host several panels and special guests during the show, across a broad, but important, range of topics. Here is a taste, directly from The ESA:

• A roundtable discussing how games media acts and reacts in the current sphere of commentary with Editors-in-Chief from GamesIndustry.biz, GameSpot, IGN, PC Gamer and Polygon.
• Nerdist’s Dan Casey hosts a session with the cast of the gaming-development focused TV series Mythic Quest.
• A conversation with legendary women of video game voice acting including Courtenay Taylor (Mass Effect, Fallout 4, Call of Duty), Anjali Bhimani (Overwatch, Apex Legends, Fallout 4: Nuka World), Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Overwatch), Carolina Ravassa (Overwatch, Valorant, GTA5) and Krizia Bajos (Sims4, League of Legends, Casagrandes).
• Insights from streaming leaders including Zack “ZackTTG” Mowery (100 Thieves), Fiona Nova (G4, RoosterTeeth), Jay-Ann Lopez (Black Girl Gamers) and Tanya DePass (I Need Diverse Games) about representation in games and empowering black voices.
• A discussion about young entrepreneurs in gaming that includes Nicole LaPointe Jameson (Evil Geniuses), Taylor Heitzig-Rhodes (Queens Gaming Collective), Katrina Salazar (weThink) and Brittani Johnson (G2 esports), moderated by Mary Margaret (Entertainment Weekly).

Also, T-pain will be floating around during the whole of E3, so be forewarned!

Source: E3