Media registration for E3 2021 is now live, but don’t worry, if you’re not a member of the media, you can still get in. Registration for influencers and industry professionals begins on May 31st. The Entertainment Software Association has confirmed that fans will be able to register for E3 starting June 3rd.

E3 will also be live broadcast on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, and those who don’t want to sign up can simply watch on their platform of choice. However, those who sign up for the free E3 portal and app witll get exclusive features, including virtual booths and leaderboards.

The ESA has said that the portal and app will serve as a hub for both fans a media throughout the experience, allowing them to access interactive experiences and “gamified show elements.” The portal will open for a week on June 7th and offer early access to exhibitors. Public access begins on June 12th, the first day of E3. Several publishers have already confirmed that they will be at E3, including Microsoft, Nintendo, Warner Bros., Take-Two Interactive, Capcom, Koch Media, and Ubisoft.

It’s no secret that games have been a growing medium. The market for video games has been on the up-and-up for the past several years, but a new report from the Entertainment Retailers Association indicates a fairly strong presence in the United Kingdom. In fact, video games now make up over half of the total entertainment market, beating music and video media in the process.

Physical retail is declining, while digital sales grew 12.5 percent. However, as the report states, “[T]he sheer scale of the games market is such that it was enough to make it bigger than video and music combined.” Mobile gaming and console digital downloads were credited – with titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2 selling over 1 million copies on Xbox One and PS4.

ERA CEO Kim Bayley noted, “The games industry has been incredibly effective in taking advantage of the potential of digital technology to offer new and compelling forms of entertainment. Despite being the youngest of our three sectors, it is now by far the biggest.” Compared to the medium’s market share in 2007, times have indeed changed for games in the UK thanks to the growth of digital media.

How much does this impact games that have seen lower than expected physical sales, like Fallout 76 and Battlefield 5? It’s hard to say without digital download numbers from the respective publishers. The same goes for games-as-a-service titles, which rely purely on digital content and sales to sustain themselves.