E3 2021: all the news and announcements

The Switch is nearly five years old and facing increased competition from new and powerful consoles from Sony and Microsoft. But despite all of this, Nintendo’s E3 2021 presentation this week was arguably the highlight of this year’s event — even if the long-rumored Switch Pro failed to make an appearance. Nintendo showed off the much-anticipated sequel to Breath of the Wild, revealed that the mythical Metroid Dread is launching later this year, and peppered in a handful of other announcements to excite fans. As always, the company continued to exist in its own world, divorced from the technological rat race that typically defines these debates.

In fact, the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X appears to have had very little impact on Nintendo, as the Switch is selling as well as ever. Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America, believes the reason is simple: there’s still nothing else like the Switch on the market. While he notes that new console launches “bodes well for the industry,” Bowser tells The Verge that the hybrid nature of the Switch means it still occupies “a unique position” that differentiates itself from more traditional consoles. And it’s a proposition that has proven to be surprisingly enduring.

Around 15 years ago, Yoshio Sakamoto had an idea for the next mainline Metroid game. Called Dread, the game would feature longtime protagonist Samus Aran constantly pursued by some kind of all-powerful force. The idea was to instill fear in players with an enemy they couldn’t defeat. This was the same time that the Nintendo DS was becoming a breakout hit, but Sakamoto soon realized that the handheld wasn’t powerful enough for his ideas. “It was difficult to realize that concept with that hardware,” he said recently during a meeting with reporters.

Development on Dread stopped and started a few times due to these technical limitations, before eventually being shelved indefinitely. “We had put it on hold,” Sakamoto explains. Which is what made this year’s announcement at E3 such a surprise: not only is Metroid Dread real, it’s coming to the Switch on October 8th.

The 2021 edition of E3 was perhaps the weirdest yet. After taking a year off due to the pandemic, the world’s biggest gaming event returned in a digital-only format. A lot of big names were still present — like Microsoft, Nintendo, and Square Enix — and there were plenty of surprising reveals and other announcements. But the spectacle felt somewhat diminished without the in-person experience. Meanwhile, the show seemed to come together at the very last moment — seriously, we didn’t even know the schedule of events until just a few days before E3 kicked off.

So you’d be forgiven for having missed some of the show. Lucky for you, we’ve gathered together the best trailers from E3 in one place, so you can catch up on the most exciting announcements, gameplay reveals, and more. Check them out below.

During its E3 Direct, Nintendo announced new entries in the Mario Party and WarioWare series, both coming to the Switch.

Mario Party Superstars will be a collection of classic Mario Party boards from the Nintendo 64, featuring (hopefully only the most infuriating) mini-games from both the N64 and GameCube eras. According to Nintendo, the mini-games can be played through online multiplayer and are compatible with regular controllers (unlike the recent Super Mario Party, which didn’t allow for the use of a Pro Controller or Switch Lite unless you had external Joy-Cons.) It will release on October 29th, 2021, for $59.99.

For the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo is releasing a Zelda-themed green and gold Game & Watch handheld console with four playable built-in games. You’ll be able to play the first entry in The Legend of Zelda series, followed by its sequel, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. The fourth game is the Game & Watch Vermin game, but with Link’s character imposed over the original character. Additionally, it can be used as a digital clock or timer.

The handheld will release on November 12th for $49.99, and it’s available for preorder now. The previous Game & Watch console released for Mario’s 35th anniversary had three games, including the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, and the Game & Watch Ball game.

Nintendo announced that it’s remastering the first two games in the Advance Wars series for Nintendo Switch in one package under the banner Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp. The game is scheduled to launch on December 3rd, and you can preorder it beginning Tuesday.

The games are “fully rebuilt from the ground up,” and in the trailer shown during the presentation, you can see the game’s great new 3D graphics. But it also looks like the classic grid-based strategy gameplay is intact almost exactly as you might remember.

After years of anticipation, Nintendo has revealed a new trailer for the still-untitled upcoming sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at E3 2021, along with a 2022 release date.

Breath of the Wild was a launch title for the Switch, and it reinvented the now-35-year-old franchise with an open-world model that broke new ground in the genre and is wildly considered one of the most acclaimed games of all time.

At its E3 2021 Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo revealed a new entry in the Metroid series: Metroid Dread. It’s set to release on October 8th of this year for $59.99.

In a short but action-packed trailer, protagonist Samus Aran faced off against a giant and terrifying white robot that chased her throughout the level. The game looked to play similarly to the 3DS game Metroid: Samus Returns — but it’s actually a direct sequel to the Game Boy Advance title Metroid Fusion from 2002, where Samus similarly had to avoid the terrifying SA-X.

Nintendo has announced that Kayuza from the Tekken fighting games will be the latest character to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at its E3 2021 Nintendo Direct presentation. Additional details are promised at a future presentation on June 28th.

The character marks the latest classic fighting game character to join Nintendo’s flagship fighter, joining characters like Street Fighter’s Ryu or Fatal Fury’s Terry Bogard.

Razer had a few announcements timed for E3 2021, including its new Razer Blade 14 with AMD’s Ryzen 9 processors, and an updated Raptor 27 gaming monitor along with a 130W GaN charger. We weren’t expecting to hear about anything else, but Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan announced that its Project Hazel mask will actually go on sale, starting early in the fourth quarter of this year.

Tan said that Hazel will be released in “drops” exclusively on its website, with the first coming in that fourth quarter timeframe.

Razer has refreshed its minimalist Raptor 27 gaming monitor with FreeSync Premium support with low frame rate compensation for smoother gameplay; a slightly faster 165Hz refresh rate (the previous model topped out at 144Hz); and THX certification claiming to deliver great color, tone, and image accuracy. Like the 2019 version, this one has Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and its matte 27-inch QHD IPS panel covers 95 percent of the DCI-P3 color space.

This monitor will cost $799.99 when it releases in Q3 2021, which is $100 more than the previous version. The improvements make it at least worth considering if you want to game on PC with enhanced variable refresh rate tech. That, and Razer’s Raptor 27 is tough to beat when it comes to design, with its sturdy aluminum base that lets the monitor flip 90 degrees for easy cable management. It’s undoubtedly a high price to pay, though, when some 4K gaming monitors cost just a little more. For $899, Acer’s Nitro XV28 has a 28-inch 4K IPS screen with HDMI 2.1 ports that support up to fast 120Hz refresh rate gaming on PC or the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

After months of rumors and speculation, many gamers’ dreams have finally come true. Today, Razer has announced the new Razer Blade 14, which is powered by AMD’s flagship Ryzen 9 5900HX. It’s the first Razer Blade to include an AMD processor, and it’s available for purchase now on Razer’s website starting at $1,799.99.

The 14-inch gaming rig will also feature up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and a QHD 165Hz display as well as an FHD 144Hz option. Razer says the Blade will be the smallest 14-inch gaming laptop on the market, with dimensions of 12.59 x 8.66 x 0.66 inches. There’s also a 720p webcam (which isn’t a given on gaming laptops these days).

Capcom has announced that Resident Evil Village will be getting downloadable content. The news was revealed during an E3 2021 Showcase that was short of new announcements. A quick message during the livestream confirmed that DLC has entered production “by popular demand.”

While there were no more details beyond this, the implication is that we could be getting more content featuring the game’s most popular character, Lady Dimitrescu. Another possibility could be the return of fan-favorite Ada Wong, who was originally planned to feature in Resident Evil Village, as revealed via early concept art that can be unlocked in the game. Of course, it could be a while before this additional DLC comes out, as it appears there had been no plans ahead of the game’s release, whereas Resident Evil 7 already had a season pass planned for launch.

343 Industries gave us a first glimpse at Halo Infinite’s free multiplayer mode yesterday, and now we’re getting even more information on how the weapons, armor, and sandbox experience will work. Halo Infinite is launching on Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, and PC later this year, allowing friends to play the free multiplayer mode across multiple platforms using crossplay and cross-progression.

The free multiplayer mode will also include a battle pass that never expires after you’ve purchased it. We don’t know how much the battle pass will cost yet, but Halo Infinite players will be able to purchase old season passes and choose which battle pass to focus progression toward.

The second day of E3 2021 has been busy with Xbox and Bethesda’s joint conference followed by Square Enix’s showcase, but plenty more game announcements came from the PC Gaming Show. If you don’t have time to catch up on the whole 90 minutes, we’ve rounded up a few of our highlights of intriguing and upcoming games that you’ll want to wishlist on Steam.

Basically Splatoon but with food, Rawmen is a third-person arena shooter where instead of guns, you fight with food against up to two to eight players. Sling soup at your opponents, become a human meatball by jumping into meat juice and rolling your way back home, or launch yourself in the air with doughnut bombs.

Previously announced for Marvel’s Avengers, today’s Square Enix E3 Showcase gave a first proper look at Black Panther who joins the superhero roster in a brand new expansion, War For Wakanda.

A new cinematic trailer introduces the King of Wakanda himself — although his face is not shown clearly until he puts on his Black Panther mask. He will be defending Wakanda from Klaw, who has infiltrated Wakanda in order to steal Vibranium for his own plans.

Babylon’s Fall finally has a substantial gameplay trailer, which was revealed at Square Enix’s E3 2021 Showcase. The new trailer is the first time it’s been seen since the game was first announced in 2018. Players will team up tackling challenging dungeons in an attempt to scale the titular tower.

The co-op title is developed by PlatinumGames and can be played solo or with up to four players. Besides the studio’s trademark hi-octane melee action, the new footage from the fantasy title shows that players can wield ranged weapons like magic staffs and bows. Their powers and customization is also based on a special equipment called the Gideon Coffin worn on their backs. 

The next Final Fantasy spinoff is heavy on the action, and certainly doesn’t skimp when it comes to giant swords. At its E3 2021 keynote, Square Enix revealed Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin — yes, that’s the actual full title — which is billed as a collaboration between Final Fantasy veterans Tetsuya Nomura and Kazushige Nojima, and renowned action game studio Team Ninja. You can get a sense of the action in the trailer above.

It’s not clear how, exactly, the game ties back to the rest of the franchise, but the description certainly sounds very Final Fantasy:

Square Enix announced that the first six mainline Final Fantasy games are getting remasters for Steam, Android, and iOS. The games will each be released individually as part of the “Pixel Remaster Series,” but Square Enix hasn’t shared release timing beyond the fact that they’re “coming soon.”

In a tweet, Square Enix said that the games will be getting a “pixel-perfect makeover,” which makes it sound as if these games will be improved versions of the originals that retain the original visual style (as opposed to the 3D remasters). But because Square Enix hasn’t shared much info just yet, we’ll just have to wait for the company to announce more information until we can be sure.

The team behind the Deus Ex games is tackling one of Marvel’s most famous superhero groups next. At its E3 2021 keynote, publisher Square Enix revealed that Eidos Montreal, the studio behind games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, is working on a game titled simply Guardians of the Galaxy.

The game puts players in the role of Star Lord (aka Peter Quill) in a third-person action-adventure experience. In a unique twist, Peter will be joined by the rest of the Guardians at all times, with the likes of Groot and Rocket being AI companions. The story takes place several years after some kind of intergalactic war, when the Guardians are still a relatively fresh group, having been together for less than a year.

Among Us lobbies will be expanding from a maximum of 10 to 15 players as part of a new update coming out on June 15th (a date that happens to be the game’s third birthday). The update will also bring new colors for crewmates, support for mobile controllers, and the ability to honk the horn on the game’s airship level.

Here’s a look at all of the player colors being added to the game: tan, coral, banana, rose, gray, and maroon. (I’m a big fan of the coral and maroon colors, personally.)

Microsoft’s concluded its E3 2021 showcase with a rather cool announcement: the Xbox Series X-shaped mini fridge, which the company promised to make after defeating Skittles in a Twitter poll, will be released in holiday 2021.

Microsoft is promising that the upcoming Xbox Mini Fridge (the official name) is “the world’s most powerful mini fridge,” an obvious play on one of the company’s key marketing points for the Xbox Series X console. But Microsoft took the joke further, spotlighting the fridge’s “Xbox Velocity Cooling Architecture” (a pun on the Xbox Series X’s “Velocity Architecture”) in a trailer.

Microsoft has announced a whole slate of games that will be joining Xbox Game Pass today, with 11 new titles available on the subscription service via Xbox and PC.

The new Game Pass titles were announced during Microsoft and Bethesda’s joint E3 conference on Sunday. The lion’s share comes from Bethesda, which adds 10 more titles to the service, in addition to the 20 Bethesda titles added to the service since it was acquired by Microsoft earlier this year. Six of these titles will also be accessible via Xbox, PC, and xCloud. PC players will also have access to Fallout: New Vegas starting today.

Microsoft ended its E3 2021 presentation with a brand-new title: Redfall, the latest release from Dishonored developer Arkane Studios. It’s a co-op shooter that looks a bit like Left 4 Dead, but with dangerous vampires in place of zombies. Here’s the premise:

The game is being developed by Arkane’s studio in Austin, Texas, and it’s slated to launch in 2022. It’ll be an Xbox exclusive for the Series X/S, as well as PC. When it does launch, Redfall will be on Xbox Game Pass from day one.