After cancelling E3 2020 due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the ESA announced that the Electronic Entertainment Expo would indeed be returning in 2021 as 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 of highly anticipated games were deconfirmed prior to E3 this year. In an effort to set expectations, games like The 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.
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 at E3 2021.
Metroid Prime 4
Nintendo showed off big upcoming titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and even the long rumored 2D action game known as Metroid Dread. As exciting and surprising as the new Metroid was, it likely wasn't the announcement many expected. The rough development cycle of Metroid Prime 4 is 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 for Metroid 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 the Metroid franchise was back in the spotlight this year.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Considering the company has a pair of new Pokemon games releasing in a few months, many expected to see new trailers for at least one of them, especially for the unique looking Pokemon 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 on Metroid Prime 4, the other big Nintendo Switch game that has seemingly dropped off the radar continued its vow of silence. Bayonetta 3 was 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 3 Director Hideki Kamiya told fans to forget about the game so 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 new Fable game was in active development. In a first for the series, the short teaser trailer shown off in 2020 revealed Forza Horizon developer 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 upcoming Fable was left out of Microsoft's already stuffed E3 2021 press conference. While industry insiders mentioned that certain 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, but State of Decay 3 was again not part of that conversation. Revealed last year during the Xbox Games Showcase, State of Decay 3 showed 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 if State of Decay 3 is 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, Avowed seemed to be Obsidian's response to Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series. Ironically, months later Microsoft went out and purchased Bethesda, reuniting both studios and franchises. Instead of updating fans with new Avowed content at E3 2021, Obsidian instead showcased the latest update for Grounded as well as a hilarious teaser trailer for The Outer Worlds 2.
As such, Avowed seemed 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. With The Outer Worlds 2 likely in very early development, Avowed is 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 at The Game Awards 2020 as a reboot of the Perfect Dark franchise. 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 in order to excite the fanbase. Perfect Dark was 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 as Pragmata with 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 hurdle Pragmata came up against was another lengthy delay which 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 believed Final Fantasy would 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, announcing Guardians of the Galaxy and also showing another trailer for the upcoming War for Wakanda expansion for Marvel's Avengers.
As for Final Fantasy, the franchise had a couple of announcements like Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, but none were on the scale of Final 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 of Final Fantasy 7 Remake last year as well as the Intergrade DLC 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 considering Final Fantasy 7 Remake just extended its PlayStation exclusivity for another 6 months, it's more than likely that a trailer will be shown by Sony in an upcoming State of Play digital event.
Beyond Good and Evil 2
Ubisoft's long-in-development Beyond Good and Evil 2 was another no show this year at E3 leaving fans to continue to wondering just what is going on behind the scenes. This isn't the only Ubisoft title to be stuck in a sort of development limbo, however Skull and Bones did get a recent update confirming that the game has been rebooted. Beyond Good and Evil 2 has gotten no such update whatsoever indicating that it may actually be further away than fans were hoping.
In year's past, Ubisoft has given fans small updates including a trailer that revealed Beyond Good and Evil protagonist Jade becoming the villain, but the game has now has been missing for a couple years now, with the only real significant news being the departure of longtime Ubisoft developer Michel Ansel last year. It's unknown what sort of state Beyond Good and Evil 2 is currently in, though it'll likely be a while before fans see more of it.
Forspoken
The other big Square Enix title that many fans were curious to learn more about was Forspoken. Another PlayStation 5 exclusive title, similar to the previously mentioned pair of Final Fantasy games, Forspoken also ended up bypassing E3 2021 much to the disappointment of fans. Originally revealed last summer as Project Athia, Forspoken puts players in the shoes of an agile character called Frey. Combat seems to revolve around magic, even blending modern style and fantasy games into an open world.
There's still quite a bit that fans don't know about Forspoken and the fact that the game skipped Square Enix's press conference at E3 no doubt disappointed many fans. However, it's possible, just like speculation surrounding the mainline Final Fantasy games, that Forspoken will get its time to shine at an upcoming Sony State of Play.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
Unlike many of the games on this list, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 faired better than most. While the game wasn't featured in any meaningful way during Microsoft's main E3 press conference, Ninja Theory was featured during the Xbox Showcase Extended event. Unfortunately, what players got was more of a developer diary and behind the scenes look rather than a gameplay focused trailer with a potential release date.
What's surprising to many fans is that Hellblade 2 was the first game revealed alongside the Xbox Series X, implying that it was further along in terms of development. Since its initial reveal back in 2019 at The Game Awards, the game has gone quiet leaving many to wonder just how far along the game actually is. Without much to go on, it seems the wait to return to Senua's story is a bit further off than originally thought.
Forza Motorsport 8
Racing fans got a Forza announcement this year at E3 2021 with the stunning Forza Horizon 5, which is set in Mexico. For some, this may have been a bigger surprise than intended as Microsoft has seemingly skipped over Forza Motorsport 8, the sim racing title that was original revealed last year during its digital event.
Considering that it's been about a year since that trailer was revealed, many assumed Turn10's racing series would be hitting the track before the Horizon series this generation, especially with Playground Games confirmed to be working on Fable. However, with Microsoft not wanting to confuse consumers over multiple entries in the Forza franchise, it's pretty clear that Forza Motorsport 8 will likely have a bigger focus next year.
Splatoon 3
Although the threequel was only just revealed earlier this year during a Nintendo Direct, many Splatoon fans were hoping for at least another trailer, or perhaps a bit of gameplay to follow up at E3 2021. Even with fans asking Nintendo for more information on the upcoming third person shooter, the game was no where to be found at E3 2021.
While disappointing for fans of the franchise, it shouldn't be too surprising as Nintendo typically doesn't like to reveal games that are still a ways off and for now, Splatoon 3 is scheduled as a 2022 game. Granted, Nintendo occasionally goes off script like with Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3, but at least for this E3, the company choose to really focus on games coming to the Switch throughout 2021.