E3 2020 would, normally, be the center point for the summer. But these are not normal times, and this year you won’t be missing a thing by staying home to watch online. In March, the ESA cancelled E3 for the year due to concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. Although the convention can’t take place, companies are planning livestreams, videos, and other online alternatives to get their big announcements out to the public this year even without big stages to do it on.
It won’t be quite the same without wholesome and cringey on-stage adlibbing or the opportunities for someone to shout “you’re breathtaking!” at some celebrity cameo. Still, companies plan year-round for the slew of announcements that happen in June and you can bet they won’t let the marketing machine grind entirely to a halt. It will just be switching gears.
Below you’ll find the dates and times for every summer game event: The press conferences and other livestreams that have replaced E3. Past that, we’ve laid out what games and announcements we might see during some of the biggest showcases of the summer.
We’re keeping this schedule updated with new show dates as events are delayed.
E3 2020: upcoming showcase schedule
| Conference | Date | Time (PDT) | Time (BST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indie Live Expo | Saturday, June 6 | 4:00 AM | 12:00 PM |
| Guerilla Collective | Saturday, June 6 – Monday, June 8 | 10:00 AM | 6:00 PM |
| Upload VR Showcase | Monday, June 8 | 8:30 AM | TBA |
| IGN Expo | Monday, June 8 – Friday, June 12 | TBA | TBA |
| IGN Summer of Gaming cont. | June 11, 12, 15, 18, 24 | TBA | TBA |
| The Escapist Indie Showcase | Thursday, June 11 | 12:00 PM | 8:00 PM |
| EA Play | Thursday, June 11 | 4:00 PM | 12:00 AM |
| PC Gaming Show | Saturday, June 13 | TBA | TBA |
| Future Games Show | Saturday, June 13 | TBA | TBA |
| BIG Digital (Brazil’s Independent Games Festival) | Monday, June 22 – Friday, June 26 | TBA | TBA |
| New Game+ Expo | Tuesday, June 23 | 8:00 AM | 4:00 PM |
| Night City Wire (Cyberpunk 2077) | Thursday, June 25 | TBA | TBA |
| BitSummit Gaiden | Saturday, June 27 – Sunday, June 28 | TBA | TBA |
| Microsoft (June) | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Warframe TennoCon | Saturday, July 11 | TBA | TBA |
| Ubisoft | Sunday, July 12 | 12:00 PM | 8:00 PM |
| Microsoft (July) | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Gamescom Opening Night | Thursday, August 27 | TBA | TBA |
| PlayStation 5: The Future of Gaming | TBA | TBA | TBA |
In case you missed it: summer showcases from past weeks
Inside Xbox (May): The first of Microsoft’s Xbox summer showcases
Wholesome Direct: 55 wholesome indie game announcements and trailers
PC Gaming Show
Time: June 13, 2020 @ 12pm PDT / 3pm EDT / 8pm BST
Livestream: Official Site, YouTube
The PC Gaming Show will go on! Our show to commemorate the next year of PC games will officially happen on June 13th this year. As ever, we’ll be showcasing some of the coolest games coming to the platform and giving lesser known projects a chance to shine as well. Last year we spoke with Baldur’s Gate 3, Borderlands 3, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, and a bunch of other great stuff. As for this year, that’ll be a surprise!
Microsoft
Time(s):May 7, 2020 @ 8am PDT/11am EDT/4pm BST
June – unknown
July – unknown
Livestream: Mixer, Twitch, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
Instead of one big event, Microsoft has decided to do monthly video events that it’s calling “Xbox 20/20” for the rest of the year.
During its May event, Microsoft focused on external studios developing games for the next Xbox console (and PC, of course). We got a new Vampire The Masquerade—Bloodlines 2 trailer, the next Yakuza game confirmed for PC, a very, very brief look at Assassin’s Creed Valhalla gameplay, and several other trailers and announcements. Alas, no word on Fable 4.
Although Xbox hasn’t given a date for July’s event yet, it will prioritize games coming from Xbox Game Studios. This might be when we hear more about the rest of the Master Chief Collection. We’ll have Halo 2 Anniversary in our hands before July so next up will be Halo 3 and ODST, which are supposed to be coming yet this year.
Sea of Thieves continues to get regular content updates as well, so perhaps Microsoft will give us a look at some longer term plans for the slapstick swashbuckler.
Xbox hasn’t yet mentioned its plans for June, though that’s traditionally the big month for announcements.
Guerrilla Collective
Time: June 6-8, 2020 @ 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST
Livestream: Twitch
A new contender for the year is the recently announced Guerrilla Collective, a show that will be hosted by Greg Miller of Kinda Funny Games. There are quite a lot of indie publishers and developers participating and you can find the entire list over on the official site. Some of the big names you may recognize are Larian Studios, ZA/UM, Paradox Interactive, Humble Bundle, and 11 Bit Studios.
Larian says it’s planning some news on both upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3 and still-excellent Divinity: Original Sin 2. ZA/UM have something to share about our 2019 Game Of The Year: Disco Elysium. Paradox may have, among other things, some more to share about tactical mobster game Empire Of Sin.
The rest is a mystery, though there are some good names in there who will likely surprise us with upcoming indie games that we’ve not heard about just yet.
EA Play
Time: June 11, 2020 @ 4 PM PDT / 12 AM BST
Livestream: TBA
Although EA usually hosts its pre-E3 event EA Play in person, it’s going online this year with EA Play Live. EA hasn’t said anything about its 2020 lineup, but we can take a guess at what will be there.
It’s EA, so there’s sure to be talk about its yearly sports titles. When it comes to ongoing games, it seems likely that we’ll get some talk about Apex Legends and how EA sees Respawn’s seasonal format carrying into the future. With Battlefront and Battlefield 5 wrapping up their new content cycles, we could see early announcements from those series as well. There’s also Anthem, which has had quite a rough time but BioWare has committed to reinventing. Oh, and what about that Star Wars: Project Maverick leak?
Ubisoft
Time: July 12, 2020 @ 12pm PDT / 3pm EDT / 8pm BST
Livestream: Twitch
Ubisoft has now announced its digital event which it’s calling “Ubisoft Forward” for all the way in July. As expected, they’ll be delivering “news, reveals, and more” in the “E3-style showcase.”
We already know that Ubisoft has five “triple-A” games coming within the next year, which is quite a lineup. We now know four of them are Watch Dogs Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine, Gods and Monsters, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
The last, we’re left to guess on. It’s definitely not Beyond Good & Evil 2, unfortunately. Maybe that Avatar game that Massive Entertainment is reportedly still working on? Probably not, but it would be quite a surprise.
Summer Game Fest
Time: Individual events from May – August 2020
Livestream: Twitch, YouTube
A bit like Microsoft, The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley has planned several months of events. Unlike Xbox 20/20, the Summer Game Fest seems to be even more dispersed with announcements being doled out individually from May through August.
It seems like these reveals and interviews will be announced a bit ahead of time rather than being laid out in a comprehensive schedule. So far, the most reliable place to know what’s up next and when is Geoff Keighley’s twitter account.
Square Enix
Time: TBA
Livestream: TBA
We don’t know Square Enix’s plans in the wake of E3’s cancellation but they’re sure to have something to share. The first installment of the Final Fantasy 7 remake is now out on PS4. Maybe we’ll get Square Enix’s official stamp on a PC port and a date we can expect it by. Perhaps they’ll even share when to expect the next part of the remake? (Haha.) Presumably Square Enix will also be gearing up for the release of Marvel’s Avengers, so we may see some final-looking gameplay for the superhero adventure.
Bethesda
Time: N/A
Livestream: N/A
In past years, Bethesda has held down a pre-E3 in-person presentation with music, videos, and Todd Howard’s bomber jacket. Bethesda has now said that it won’t have a digital showcase in June.
Apparently they will still be sharing things about their upcoming games (whew) but it won’t come in that big bonanza format. Here are some of the things we were expecting to hear them talk about.
Bethesda has already mentioned its intention to give players more information on Ghostwire: Tokyo, a spooky thriller which we’ve heard almost nothing of since its announcement trailer at E3 2019. It’s also planning to share more about Deathloop, the first-person action game about the endless battle between two assassins. The big Fallout 76: Wastelanders update is now out but that’s hardly the end of Fallout 76’s story. We’re sure to get some insight on how Bethesda is thinking about the online Fallout’s future after such a big, game-changing update.
Beyond that, will we finally see more of Starfield? Bethesda’s entirely new space-faring RPG has been kept largely under wraps so far. Same goes for The Elder Scrolls 6, which we are—at Todd’s direction—being very, very patient for.
Devolver Digital
Time: TBA
Livestream: Twitch
Consciously odd indie game publisher Devolver Digital is no stranger to pre-recorded press conferences. You’ll know the publisher for the wild meta-stories of its past E3 announcements. Shortly after the news of E3’s cancellation, Devolver tweeted that it’s “bummed” but is planning “a livestream Devolver Direct / press conference and possibly more.” We don’t know yet what they’re planning to show off, but you can always expect Devolver to have something strange up its sleeve.
Warner Bros.
Time: TBA
Livestream: TBA
Bad luck for Warner Bros. Apparently the studio was planning to host its first E3 press conference in 2020. We don’t know what the Bros are planning now, but it would be surprising if the studio doesn’t find a way to share plans online. Apparently it was planning to announce two games this year: a Harry Potter game and Batman game. More than likely we’ll still find out what those are in some fashion.
Warner Bros are on the list of folks participating in the Summer Game Fest, so it’s possible they may forgo hosting their own event in favor of delivering news via Geoff Keighley.
Nintendo
Time: TBA
Livestream: YouTube
We don’t cover Nintendo Switch games around here but we sure do like playing them after work. We’ve got the Nintendo Direct details here so that you don’t have to go looking for them elsewhere. If nothing else, the increasing number of games with crossplay between PC and Switch players, along with recent cloud save compatibility between Steam and Switch for certain games, means we could get some hardware-y news about how your Switch and gaming PC will continue living happily ever after together.