Before E3 held its first fully digital showcase, it was tradition for the booths at the Los Angeles Convention Center to be covered in stickers placed by media and industry experts for the games that have won “Best in Show”, “Most Anticipated”, and other titles, and while the stickers on booths are absent this year, the ESA found a new way to be able to celebrate the titles shown at the event. To close outE3 2021, with the help of the show’s hosts, an award show was held to reveal which games were the best among E3 this year.
The ESA announced thatE3 would feature its own award showon June 1st. According to the ESA, the judges were “industry media experts” who analyzed the games featured in the broadcasts for the titles. The awards offered at E3 2021 weren’t too expansive like one would expect from an awards show like The Game Awards, but developers and publishers got to leave the show with their games carrying titles such as “Most Anticipated” and “Best Presentation.”
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Best Presentation went to Microsoft and Bethesda, withreveals such asStarfieldand other major titles likeOuter Worlds 2. Every presentation had its own category of Most Anticipated, and among the winners were Capcom’sThe Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, and the PC Gaming Show’sSong of Conquest. The full list is as follows:
Nintendo:Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
Overall Most Anticipated:Forza Horizon 5,Microsoft Game Studios
Best presentation:Microsoft: Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
The ESA said with its announcement of the awards show that “celebrating innovative creators and developers is the ideal way to close out E3,” and the games showed get to stand out amongst the rest as a game to keep an eye on with the title of Most Anticipated to help it gain recognition.
While the ESA used a panel of industry judges, like with most awards categories, some fans may disagree with these choices.The sixteen-year revival story ofMetroid Dreadwas a big surprise, yetBreath of the Wild 2sits as Most Anticipated for Nintendo despite howBreath of the Wild 2has been in known development for some time, andMetroid Dreadcomes home to fans of Samus Aran as soon as October this year.
Despite what players think of the choices, E3 has come to a close withthe 2022 event already set for next year. With some developers and teams taking home an award for their efforts, which was the goal the ESA sought out to close the event with, the awards show was still able to get people talking about what their favorite games of the event were. Even if a fan’s favorite title didn’t win an award for this year’s E3, there’s still time at The Game Awards this December to have some more specific recognition.
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