E3 2021 Schedule: Dates, start times and how to watch the conference online in the UK

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With Capcom and Take-Two on the schedule today, as well as the tech company Razer, there are sure to be some interesting morsels of news for fans around the globe to devour. And Tuesday will cap things off with, among other things, a long-awaited Nintendo Direct presentation all about Switch games.

So to peruse the full E3 2021 schedule, in both UK and US times, take a look at our handy guide to watching the conference at home. You won't want to miss the next wave of reveals.

E3 2021 Dates: When is E3 2021?

E3 2021 began on 12th June 2021 and it will run until 15th June 2021. The E3 2021 schedule has been revealed in full, so we now know when to expect those all-important announcements from our favourite studios. We've got the essential information further down this page.

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How to watch the E3 2021 Conference

With E3 2021 being an online-only and free event, you will be able to watch all of its presentations from the comfort of your sofa, desk, bed or anywhere else with internet access - it is just a case of finding the best link to do so.

If you want to watch everything, the E3 YouTube channel is the easiest place to tune in. There's one big live stream each day on that channel, where you'll be able to watch all the action playing out in real-time.

If you'd rather pick and choose the pieces you want to watch, that's a little bit more fiddly. In most cases, the developers themselves will also have their own YouTube accounts that you will be able to watch the stream from.

We'll include a link to the main YouTube channels for each below, where we have them, so you can bookmark them and have them ready when the presentations start.

E3 2021 Schedule: What's on when?

The E3 organisers have now revealed the full E3 2021 schedule, with the Tweet below rounding up the American timings in the show's native PT time zone.

E3 2021 schedule in UK time zone, BST

From a UK perspective, this is how the at-a-glance E3 schedule translates into our current BST time zone (it's worth remembering that we're not on GMT right now):

Saturday 12th June, E3 schedule in UK time

6pm Broadcast Pre-Show
7pm Ubisoft Forward Pre-Show
8pm Ubisoft Forward
10pm Gearbox E3 Showcase
10:45pm GamesBeat Session

Sunday 13th June, E3 schedule in UK time

4:45pm Broadcast Pre-Show
5:30pm 24 Entertainment's Naraka: Bladepoint
6pm Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase
8:15pm Square Enix
10pm Warner Bros Games' Back 4 Blood
10:30pm PC Gaming Show
Midnight, going into Monday: Future Games Show

Monday 14th June, E3 schedule in UK time

4pm Broadcast Pre-Show
5pm Verizon
5:45pm Intellivision
6:15pm Take-Two Interactive Panel
7:10pm Mythical Games
8pm Indie Showcase
8:30pm Freedom Games
9pm VENN
10:30pm Capcom
11pm Razer

Tuesday 15th June, E3 schedule in UK time

4pm Broadcast Pre-Show
5pm Nintendo Direct and Nintendo Treehouse Live
10:25pm Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc
11:30pm Yooreka Studio
11:35pm GameSpot Play For All Showcase
00:45am, going into Wednesday: Official E3 2021 Awards Show

For more details on the key shows in the line-up, and how to watch them, keep on reading!

Ubisoft Forward - June 12th at 8pm UK time

There are numerous possibilities for what Ubisoft has in store for us at E3 but we can say with certainty that one of the big games that will get a lot of attention is the delayed Far Cry 6 - now due for release in October.

More from Rainbow Six has now been confirmed to be shown with the next mainline game now officially titled Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction, and we will also get more from For Honor, Trackmania, The Crew 2, Brawlhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion and many more.

While we do not expect to hear about the next Assassin's Creed, there is a VR title in the works that will likely be shown and we really hope we get to learn more about Beyond Good and Evil 2. But Ubisoft has a lot of hit titles and they could be set to give us all a shock with a big surprise reveal...

Also, get ready to hear more from Ubisoft Film & Television as they will be giving us more details on the Apple TV+ series Mythic Quest and the upcoming original movie, Werewolves Within - so it's not all about gaming!

Watch via Ubisoft's YouTube channel

Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase - June 13th at 6pm UK time

Hot off the heels of announcing their own Smart TV app and streaming stick device, the team from Xbox is all set to co-host an E3 presentation with their new best buds from Bethesda. They've promised to unveil their "best and bigger games line-up" of all time, which is certainly fighting talk.

Two games immediately spring to mind here - Halo Infinite and Starfield. The new Halo was meant to be out already and you can be sure that Microsoft will be looking to get people hyped up for it again with it being due for release later this year.

And Starfield is the next big Bethesda game so it's extremely unlikely that won't be heavily featured. As for anything else, well we could hear more about Gears 6 - we hope we do - but we have not had any hints that it will be revealed.

Xbox usually has a big focus on its indie titles too so lookout for more of that - as well as possible big additions to Xbox Games Pass. Dare we allow ourselves to hope that a third Ori game is set to be unveiled?

Watch via Xbox's YouTube channel

Square Enix Showcase - June 13th at 8:15pm UK time

Not missing out on the fun this year is Square Enix and we expect that they will have some Final Fantasy goodness for us to enjoy when they take to the virtual stage for E3 2021.

Other than that, we fully expect to hear more on Life is Strange: True Colours, Forspoken and maybe even some more details on that upcoming Tomb Raider anime series that is due to air on Netflix.

We wouldn't be surprised to hear more about Marvel's Avengers game, which has its big Black Panther DLC in the pipeline at the moment.

Watch via the Square Enix YouTube channel

Warner Bros Interactive - June 13th at 10pm UK time

Warner Bros has confirmed that this particular E3 showcase will focus on Back 4 Blood, the upcoming co-op horror game from the makers of Left 4 Dead.

We've been told not to expect any updates on WB's other big games, so don't go into this one expecting any updates on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Gotham Knights or Hogwarts Legacy. Maybe next time, ey?

Watch via Back 4 Blood YouTube channel

Capcom - June 14th at 10:30pm UK time

Just because Resident Evil Village is already out does not mean there is no news for it on the way and it is expected that Capcom will be announcing some DLC for it during their E3 presentation - and maybe even a new game too although it is a tad early for that.

They also have a new Monster Hunter game on the way in 2022 which will likely feature but other than their line up remains a mystery. Could there be a big Devil May Cry reveal on the way?

Watch via the Capcom YouTube channel

Take Two - June 14th at 6:15pm UK time

Take-Two are the parent company of Rockstar so could we be getting a Grand Theft Auto 6 reveal? Probably not, because Take-Two has already said this is a panel discussion about diversity in the gaming industry, rather than a traditional E3 show packed with reveals, announcements and trailers. So leave your GTA 6 dreams at home, and stop hoping for Red Dead Redemption news as well!

Watch live on the E3 channel

For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides.

Nintendo E3 Showcase - June 15th at 5pm UK time

Could this be the day that we finally get confirmation and hear all the juicy details, about the Nintendo Switch Pro? We can but dream. At this point, we're pretty confident it will be mentioned.

Game-wise, we know that there are a fair few ready to be revealed and we should be getting a deep dive on the big-hitters, namely the upcoming new Pokemon games (including the remakes of Diamond and Pearl) and, hopefully, the long-awaited Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 - if that ends up being its name!

Watch via the Nintendo YouTube channel

EA Play - July 22nd - Time TBC

This one isn't really a part of E3 but given that EA are still one of the big hitters in the gaming world and this event comes along only a few weeks after E3, it is still worth drawing your attention to it.

As for what we will see here, the only game we can say with almost certainty that will be heavily featured is the just-announced Battlefield 6 - and the usual showcasing of the annual gaming titles including FIFA 22, of course.

Other than that, your guess is a good as ours and while our hopes are pinned on a big exciting Mass Effect reveal, we would be surprised if we heard much more about that before EA's 2022 event.

Watch via the EA YouTube channel

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