Xbox and Bethesda E3 2021 conference date is second week of June

Microsoft has become one of the first publishers to set a date for its not-quite-E3 press conference and it’s going to be a 90-minute epic.

With Sony not attending E3 this year and Nintendo yet to set a date, it is Microsoft which has taken the lead, with a joint conference with Bethesda that’s due to take place on June 13.

Since Microsoft bought Bethesda the two companies are essentially one and the same, so while Bethesda used to have their own E3 event that’s no longer going to be the case.

The conference is set to last 90 minutes and will start at an unusually UK-friendly time of 6pm BST. All we know for sure is that it will feature ‘games from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and many game creators from our partners around the world’.

What exactly those games are is something of a mystery. Halo Infinite seems the only guaranteed title, since it’s supposed to be out this year, but while you’d imagine Microsoft will be showing at least something of internal titles such as Fable, Forza Motorsport, and Everwild there’s no guarantee that they will.

Likewise, Bethesda are in an awkward position where their next two games (Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo) are both PlayStation 5 timed exclusives. It would be very surprising, and disappointing, if Starfield wasn’t unveiled, but it’s also not something you should take for granted.

Perhaps we’ll see something of MachineGames’ Indiana Jones game or maybe even a new glimpse at The Elder Scrolls 6, but those are longer shots.

There’ll no doubt be other lower profile titles as well though, including indie games and the console version of Microsoft Flight Simulator. And possibly some surprises too, such as the rumoured Forza Horizon 5.

The only thing we know for sure is that Microsoft will be looking to make an impression, with a chance to show off the difference that all their new first party studios will make, so the fact that it’s hard to predict exactly what will be shown only makes it more exciting.

In terms of other E3 conferences, the only other one to have announced so far is Ubisoft, who are the day before on June 12. Nintendo hasn’t announced a date yet but is likely to be June 14.

There are also lots of other smaller conferences due to take place at around the same time, as well as Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest starting from June 10.

The big question though is whether Sony will hold an event next month, even if it’s not technically part of E3.

They usually do, but they’ve so far not even hinted at any plans for this year. There’s a good chance they will have a conference sometime in June, but equally they could just pick an entirely different time – such as the new EA Play scheduled for July 22.

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