What to expect from E3 2018
The biggest few days on the gaming calendar are right around the corner now, with the annual E3 conference beginning on June 12th. All the big names in gaming will be there, vying to steal the spotlight with some seismic news.
Here, we’ll break down what to expect from each major presentation.
EA
EA are under pressure to avoid their mishaps of last year, chiefly with Star Wars: Battlefront II, which was dogged by controversial loot boxes.
Battlefield 5 will be the big focus for EA this E3, along with the annual sports titles (FIFA 19 and Madden 19). It’ll be interesting to see if EA go out of their way to stress that they’ve learned lessons from the last year.
Microsoft
First up for the big party manufacturers is Microsoft. With the Xbox One X – last year’s big announcement – selling well, Microsoft will switch their focus to games. While critics and gamers have been largely unanimous in their praise of the Xbox hardware, there’s been less positivity around the dearth of major exclusives Microsoft have produced this generation.
There’s still plenty of time to turn the tide and set the next Xbox up with a few big sequels to get gamers interested, so expect some announcements around popular Microsoft IPs – Halo and Forza Horizon are distinct possibilities.
Bethesda
Bethesda have already made waves with a 24-hour stream that accrued millions of views before unveiling a new Fallout game, Fallout 76. With details thin on the ground, expect more to be unveiled about this.
Ubisoft
Like Bethesda, Ubisoft haven’t waited for the conference to get started before announcing perhaps their biggest news. Hot on the heels of last year’s success, Assassin’s Creed will be returning later this year, with a game this time set in ancient Greece.
Last year’s Ubisoft presentation was, however, one of the most energetic and surprising, so don’t count them out of unveiling some more left field titles too.
Nintendo
Continuing the theme of pre-conference announcements, Nintendo stole a march on Sony and Microsoft by announcing three new Pokémon games in late May – two to release at the end of this year, with another expected a year later. Though reaction has been somewhat mixed given the games’ tie-in nature with Pokémon GO, the excitement will still be enormous.
We already know we’ll be seeing the Switch version of Super Smash Bros and likely some of the new Metroid Prime. The only question is which other beloved Nintendo franchises will be getting the Switch treatment next?
Sony
Sony’s E3 map looks pretty well set, with Death Stranding, The Last of Us 2, Spider-Man all likely to get significant air time. All exclusives, Sony could well deal the Xbox One a damaging blow if all three end up being hits.
There have been plenty of rumours about when the PS4 might get replaced, but with it still selling extremely well, there’s virtually no chance that we’ll have any hint at new hardware this year.
