After cancelling E3 2020 due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the ESA announced that theElectronic Entertainment Expo would indeed be returning in 2021as an all digital event. Following the announcement, it didn’t take long for most studios and companies to jump on board and setting up their own digital events. Microsoft, Ubisoft, Square Enix, and many others set up their own showcases promising to reveal more on a ton of upcoming games both for 2021 and in the coming years.
It’s worth noting that a ton ofhighly anticipated games were deconfirmed prior to E3this year. In an effort to set expectations, games likeThe Division: Heartland,Dead Island,Hogwarts Legacy,the next Saints Row, and plenty more were skipping the show entirely. While no doubt disappointing for fans, there were still a number of games potentially left to reveal.
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However, there were a bunch of major titles, some expected to launch later this year, which also went missing in action at the all digital event. Here are the twenty biggest games to go missing atE3 2021.
Metroid Prime 4
Nintendo showed off big upcoming titles likeThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2and even thelong rumored 2D action game known asMetroid Dread. As exciting and surprising as the newMetroidwas, it likely wasn’t the announcement many expected. The rough development cycle ofMetroid Prime 4is well documented, having not only switched developers, but getting a full reboot as well. However, that announcement was made all the way back in early 2019.
With two years having passed and little to no information revealed in that time, most fans expected to at least see a trailer forMetroid Prime 4. However, it wasn’t meant to be at the game only received a mention during the E3 2021 Direct event, confirmation that the game’s development was still progressing. Though, unlike previous years, at least theMetroidfranchise was back in the spotlight this year.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Considering the company has a pair of newPokemongames releasing in a few months, many expected to see new trailers for at least one of them, especially forthe unique lookingPokemon Legends: Arceus. The debut trailer teased plenty of new features for the series including a massive open world, being able to catch Pokemon without first battling them, and much more. However, no new details came, though it’s highly expected that a dedicated Pokemon Direct event will be coming before long to answer more of these fan questions.
Bayonetta 3
While fans may have gotten a very small update onMetroid Prime 4, the other big Nintendo Switch game that has seemingly dropped off the radar continued its vow of silence.Bayonetta 3was originally revealed with a tiny teaser trailer back in 2017 at The Game Awards. Since that point, the game has been missing in action completely, even with Platinum developers not willing to talk about it.
Unfortunately, it seems there’s no end in sight to the silent treatment. Earlier this year,Bayonetta 3Director Hideki Kamiya told fans to forget about the gameso it would be a nice surprise when it was finally revealed, though fans have seemingly gone against his wishes. Following the lack of E3 news, Kamiya received plenty of complaints which reportedly left him equally as frustrated over what he felt were people making reckless remarks and spreading false beliefs that the game was being delayed or cancelled outright.
Fable
Following all of the rumors and leaks, Microsoft finally revealed that a newFablegame was in active development. In a first for the series, the short teaser trailer shown off in 2020 revealedForza Horizondeveloper Playground Games to be the studio working on this latest entry. While the CG trailer whet the appetite of fans, many were hoping to see something a little more substantial at E3 2021.
However, that wasn’t meant to be as the upcomingFablewas left out of Microsoft’s already stuffed E3 2021 press conference. While industry insiders mentioned thatcertain Xbox franchises like Fable would be absent from E3, the lack of confirmation from Microsoft gave some fans hope that perhaps even a trailer would be shown. Unfortunately for them, the wait continues.
State of Decay 3
Microsoft certainly had plenty to say regarding its upcoming first party games and Xbox Game Pass, butState of Decay 3was again not part of that conversation.Revealed last year during the Xbox Games Showcase,State of Decay 3showed a CG trailer focusing on a character walking through a snowy wilderness and eventually coming across a zombified deer.
Unfortunately, not much else has been revealed regarding the zombie survival game. Following its reveal, Undead Labs did confirm that the game was still very early in development indicating release would still be a long ways off. Without much else to go on a year later, its understandable that most fans felt a new trailer or development update would be ready, though ifState of Decay 3is attempting to fix and build off of the franchise’s legacy, development could be a lengthy one, especially to fulfill that huge open world sandbox survival fantasy.
Avowed
Another Microsoft game revealed last summer during the Xbox Games Showcase,Avowedseemed to be Obsidian’s response to Bethesda’sElder Scrollsseries. Ironically, months later Microsoft went out and purchased Bethesda, reuniting both studios and franchises. Instead of updating fans with newAvowedcontent at E3 2021, Obsidian instead showcased the latest update for Grounded as well as a hilarious teaser trailer forThe Outer Worlds 2.
As such,Avowedseemed to be the odd man out this year, though the game was briefly mentioned at the end of the show by Xbox head Phil Spencer. WithThe Outer Worlds 2likely in very early development,Avowedis likely Obsidian’s next major game release, which means more news could be coming later in 2021 at one of the various game events left this year.
Perfect Dark
Since its creation and announcement in 2018, most of the news out of The Initiative has been regarding the talent that has been hired. Led by former Crystal Dynamics Studio Head, Darrell Gallagher, The Initiative finally revealed its first big project atThe Game Awards 2020 as a reboot of thePerfect Darkfranchise. The announcement came with a debut trailer as well as a developer diary sharing a few new insights on the game and what the studio is doing to revive the franchise.
As exciting as that was, the studio once again went dark with no information coming out since. Fans were hopeful of at least another tease at E3 2021 as the show is the event when companies tend to drop major announcements to excite the fanbase.Perfect Darkwas probably a long shot for the show anyway as the game is likely in an early state of development meaning fans can likely expect to see more next year.
Pragmata
Last year, Capcom revealed a mysterious new IP known asPragmatawith a reality bending trailer featuring a protagonist in some sort of space suit. The character was exploring what appeared to be an abandoned city outside of a little girl and holographic cat. Before long, the camera pulls back revealing distorted scenery and buildings, eventually leading to a satellite crashing down and sending the astronaut and little girl to the moon.
Another game that was likely a longshot to be shown at E3 2021, the biggest hurdlePragmatacame up against was another lengthy delaywhich pushed its already distant 2022 release date a year later into 2023. Still, fans were at least hopeful to learn a little more about the intriguing game as well as maybe view another teaser trailer. While there’s still a chance it appears at another event later this year, the game is still so far away that Capcom could opt to simply hold it back a little longer than it originally expected.
Final Fantasy 16
With Square Enix hosting its own E3 press conference again at this year’s show, many people believedFinal Fantasywould take up a good portion of the show like it did back in 2019. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case, with the company focusing more on its Marvel games, announcingGuardians of the Galaxyand also showing another trailer for the upcoming War for Wakanda expansion forMarvel’s Avengers.
As forFinal Fantasy, the franchise had acouple of announcements likeStranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, but none were on the scale ofFinal Fantasy 16. While this highly anticipated game was a big no show at E3, many have begun to assume that it will be included in a potential PlayStation State of Play event sometime this summer.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2
Following the release ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remakelast year as well as theIntergradeDLC and the PS5 version only recently, many assumed Square Enix would at least be willing to show off what’s next for Cloud, Tifa, and the rest of the crew. Tetsuya Nomura has revealed that the development team has moved on to Part 2, though details continue to be scarce leaving many fans to speculate and theorize how the experience could change.
It’s unknown when Square Enix will be ready to talk about Part 2, though with the engine and assets already in place, many feel it won’t be quite as long as it was waiting for the first part. While E3 came and went without an update, there are still multiple chances for some sort of reveal in 2021 including major events like Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show, though consideringFinal Fantasy 7 Remakejust extended its PlayStation exclusivityfor another 6 months, it’s more than likely that a trailer will be shown by Sony in an upcoming State of Play digital event.
