Xbox and Bethesda’s big E3 show is on June 13th at 1PM ET

Xbox and Bethesda will hold a joint, virtual E3 conference on June 13th at 1PM ET. The Xbox & Bethesda Game Showcase will be 90 minutes long and focus on software out of Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda and beyond. It’ll stream on official Xbox channels on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

E3 was canceled last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and this time around it will be completely digital and totally free, taking place from June 12th – 15th. So far, confirmed attendees include Xbox (and Bethesda, clearly), Nintendo, Capcom, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Sega, among others. Notably, Sony and EA are missing from the lineup, and they aren’t planning E3-adjacent events. Sony has skipped E3 for the past few years, and EA’s own live showcase will be held more than a month after E3, on July 22nd.

It’s only been about three months since the ink dried on Xbox’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media. In exchange for $7.5 billion, Xbox received eight studios, including Bethesda (Fallout, Elder Scrolls), id Software (Doom), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within) and Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Prey). 

Not only is this the first Xbox E3 showcase with ZeniMax in tow, but it’s the first since the launch of the ninth console generation. The Xbox Series X has been available for about six months, and its most-anticipated exclusives, including Halo: Infinite, have yet to materialize. However, the Xbox ecosystem is sustained by Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox’s incredibly popular console and PC subscription service that offers access to more than 100 titles on both platforms for $15 a month.

Meanwhile, Xbox owns a number of high-profile developers, including The Coalition, Compulsion Games, Double Fine Productions, Mojang Studios, Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, Playground Games and Rare — and that’s on top of the ZeniMax bunch. All of these groups are building experiences specifically for Xbox platforms.

Like, all Xbox platforms. The company is on a mission to unify its PC, console and mobile businesses under a singular brand, with cross-play capabilities and cloud gaming leading the shift.

“Hopefully the Xbox experience on console and the Xbox experience on PC will start to become one and the same,” Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty told Engadget in April.

As for the rest of E3, Twitch has outlined its plans for this summer’s “/twitchgaming gathering” starting June 10th. This will include press conferences from game studios and original, interactive content from Twitch, with presentations from Devolver Digital, Summer Game Fest, Guerrilla Collective, Facepunch Studios, Sega, IO Interactive and others. The full schedule isn’t available just yet, but here’s what Twitch has confirmed so far:

• Summer Game Fest Kickoff Live – June 10th, 2PM ET

• Netflix Geeked debuting shows and films based on your favorite games – June 11th, 12PM ET

• The /twitchgaming gathering House Party – June 12th, 2PM ET

• Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase – June 13th, 1PM ET

Of course, E3 is bigger than just Twitch and Xbox. Stay tuned to Engadget throughout June for an avalanche of video game news, analysis and live streams as the biggest names in the business take the digital stage.