We didn't get to gather in sweaty, heaving crowds for E3 2021, but it was a big one nonetheless. Across the Summer Game Fest, the Guerrilla Collective, Microsoft's Xbox-Bethesda Showcase, the PC Gaming Show, and other online events, we saw an astonishing—nearly overwhelming—assortment of new game announcements, release dates, and other news. If you missed any of it, do not worry: We've assembled all the big news right here, so you can get caught up on everything in one handy place.
This year was a lot, seriously, but there were still a few big bombs that stand out from the crowd:
The biggest reveals
Starfield
The video leaked literally 20 minutes before Microsoft's show started, but it didn't matter. The debut trailer for Bethesda's "first new universe in over 25 years" made for one of the most genuinely exciting E3 moments in years.
Elden Ring
The long-awaited Elden Ring gameplay reveal was another huge moment, and as an added bonus we got a release date, too: January 21. The community reaction was about what you'd expect.
Diablo 2: Resurrected
Diablo 2 is 21 years old (wow) but it's one of the best ARPGs ever made, and the Resurrected remaster is looking very promising. It's also now got a release date of September 23.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
What's interesting about Gearbox's new shooter isn't that it's a Borderlands spinoff (it is), but that it's not the Borderlands spinoff you expect (it isn't). Still, it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.
The Outer Worlds 2
They're making it! And that's about it. Yeah, that's it. Quality teaser, though.
Redfall
Arkane unveiled a brand-new game during the big weekend, a Left 4 Dead-style co-op shooter with vampires and magic. But it's not just an L4D clone: Arkane said that, like its other games, player choice and a reactive world will be central to the experience.
New game announcements
There's a lot of new stuff coming over the next few years. Here are some that seem especially exciting.
An Evil Dead game is coming, and it actually looks pretty good
Jurassic World Evolution 2 will be out later this year
Forza Horizon 5 is headed to Mexico this November and lordy it looks nice
The hit 2016 2D RPG Salt and Sanctuary is getting a sequel called Salt and Sacrifice
The Anacrusis is a '70s sci-fi take on Left 4 Dead from former Valve and Riot developers
Crossfire: Legion is a 'classic RTS' being developed by the makers of Homeworld 3
Fight as Rocky, Ivan Drago, Clubber Lang, and more in Creed Champions
Be a trigger-happy spellcaster in co-op survival sandbox Wizard with a Gun
Bramble: The Mountain King is a weird new horror game is inspired by creepy Nordic fairytales
Become the Baba Yaga in the open-world horror-adventure Blacktail
Students major in pizza and magic in this trailer for Two Point Campus
Bloodhunt is a battle royale game set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, and it's out this year
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes and new spin-off, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, will come to Xbox Game Pass at launch
Ubisoft reveals Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, out next year (and we're gonna be really mad if it's good)
Grime is a trippy new Metroidvania featuring living weapons and a bizarre art style
Douse fires, save people, and fly on a firehose in Firegirl: Hack 'n Splash Rescue
Abzu meets Limbo in brutal underwater adventure Silt
Slime Rancher 2 will be bouncing onto PC in 2022
This newly revealed Final Fantasy game is so bad it's good
Far: Changing Tides is a lonely post-apocalyptic voyage, coming late 2021
Ixion is a space station management sim with strong Frostpunk vibes
Let's once again ride a wave of rats in A Plague Tale: Requiem
Contraband is a 1970s co-op smuggling game from the Just Cause team
Rocksmith+ looks like a neat way to learn the guitar or bass
Koch Media's new Prime Matter publishing label is bringing back Painkiller.
The stop-motion co-op adventure platformer Vokabulantis looks absolutely fantastic, and it's got a sweet-sounding story, too.
Her Story creator Sam Barlow's next game is a decades-spanning Hollywood thriller called Immortality
Release dates
Best wishes to your backlog.
- Beasts of Maravilla Island - Out now
- Minute of Islands - Also out now
- Red Solstice 2: Survivors - June 17
- Black Skylands - July 9
- Last Stop - July 22
- Hell Let Loose - July 27
- Tribes of Midgard - July 27
- The Forgotten City - July 28
- Chernobylite - July 28
- Lemnis Gate: August 3
- Death Trash - August 5
- Skatebird - August 12
- Naraka: Bladepoint - August 12
- 12 Minutes - August 19
- Psychonauts 2 - August 25
- Lake - September 1
- Sable - September 23
- Back 4 Blood - October 12
- House of Ashes - October 21
- Age of Empires 4 - October 28
New trailers
Because sometimes you just want a little catch-up with a game you've been waiting for.
- Tales of Arise's new trailer shows off gorgeous new environments, teases story stuff that makes no sense
- Monster Hunter Stories 2's new trailer has me very excited to train my dragon
- Death's Door gameplay video showcases 'tight 2D pixel-art action
- Far Cry 6 lets you bring a cock to a gun fight
- Skateboard tricks are the most valuable currency in OlliOlli World
- New trailer for kung-fu brawler Sifu shows a nightclub beatdown
- Fallout meets weird Soviet sci-fi in the alt-history RPG Encased
- New trailer for Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One shows a younger, cooler detective
- See Aiden Pearce and Wrench duke it out in the Watch Dogs: Legion – Bloodline trailer
- This soup game looks hot
- Call of Duty: Warzone's Season 4 trailer brings fire-breathing dragons to Zombies
- New Aragami 2 gameplay demo gives us a better look at Dishonored in Japan
- An alarming number of heads explode in this trailer for Happy Game, coming this fall
- Mechajammer is an isometric immersive sim-RPG inspired by '80s action films
- Watch 5 minutes of Gloomwood, the best game I've seen at E3 yet
- Vampire: The Masquerade—Swansong's new trailer reveals a vengeful game of hide and seek
- Paralives looks to be every frustrated Sims player's dream
- Marvel's Avengers Black Panther expansion gets a cinematic trailer
- Platinum Games reveals new Babylon's Fall gameplay and details
- Atomic Heart's new gravity-defying trailer ramps up the Soviet-themed insanity
- Here's our first look at Halo Infinite multiplayer
- Somerville is Inside set during an alien apocalypse, and it's coming next year
- Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl gets impressive gameplay trailer and April 2022 release date
- Battlefield 2042 gameplay trailer revealed at Microsoft show
- Pioner looks like a different twist on Stalker, and I'm here for it comrade
- Escape from Tarkov shows off destructible scenery and a freaking APC
- Rainbow Six Extraction reintroduced with new gameplay trailer and cinematic
- Endless Dungeon basically looks like anime space Diablo, with turrets
TV shows based on games
Speaking of things to watch, Netflix was a presence during this year's E3 as well, bringing its "Geeked Week" to the Summer Game Fest. It's not making games, though—it's making
▪️ Finally, the first trailer for season 2 of The Witcher is here
▪️ There's going to be a Far Cry anime
▪️ Netflix casts Lance Reddick as Wesker in live-action Resident Evil series
▪️ Captain Laserhawk is a Netflix anime series based on Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
▪️ Netflix's Splinter Cell series stars an older, grizzled Sam Fisher
▪️ Netflix is working on a brand new Castlevania series
▪️ Wayne Brady plays King Dice in the Cuphead Netflix animated series
▪️ League of Legends' TV series looks brilliant and moody in this new clip
Other stuff
E3 wasn't all exciting big reveals, long-awaited released dates, and explosive new trailers. Scattered here are there throughout the weekend, there were also smaller announcements. Here are a few interesting ones:
Among Us is getting a hide and seek mode, new roles, and a whole lot more (and also 15 player lobbies)
Orcs Must Die! 3 is coming to Steam at last
How Dying Light 2's day/night system completely transforms the city
Chivalry 2's first free map coming 'sooner than fans would expect'
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy will have no DLC or microtransactions
The Game Awards will be held in front of a live audience this year
Assassin's Creed Valhalla will get a second year's worth of expansions and loads of free content
Captain Jack Sparrow will be joining your pirate crew in Sea of Thieves later this month
Netflix and CD Projekt's Geralts come together at WitcherCon in July
The $1,000 VHS tape and purple suits from Devolver's E3 show were actually for sale and they already sold out
Amazon Games is localizing one of South Korea's most exciting MMOs, Lost Ark
They put PC Gaming Show host Frankie Ward in Humankind
If you're looking for more E3 2021 coverage, we've got it: Here's a full recap of the PC Gaming Show, some thoughts on the best games we've seen, all 70+ games shown in the Guerrilla Collective event, and even a list of every game at E3 with ray tracing.
