This year's E3 has the added potential of a heavily rumored new console announcements from Microsoft (and an actual mid-cycle upgrade announcement from Sony). And then there's virtual reality, which is poised to be a major presence once again now that big-name hardware is starting to get into consumers' hands.
Here's a quick round-up of what we're expecting, hoping for, and skeptical of seeing from the moment the pre-show press conferences start on Sunday to the end of the show on Thursday.
Electronic Arts
Press Conference: Sunday, June 12, 1pm Pacific / 9pm UK (Liveblog link)
What we expect to see: Electronic Arts isn't officially a part of E3 this year, but the company's "EA Play" show-aside-the-show will have a press conference that should be your standard E3-style presentation. Expect a lot of talk about new sports games, as well as new footage from already announced shooters Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2. We also got a very brief tease of Mass Effect Andromeda last year, and that game seems set for a wider reveal before a planned early 2017 launch.What we might or might not see: After last year's commercially successful Star Wars Battlefront, EA is continuing to make the most of its Star Wars license with two new games from Motive Studios and Visceral Games. Those games seem likely to be at least mentioned at a big press conference. EA has also mentioned work on a VR version of Battlefront, which could show up here or at Sony's conference if it's ready.
Long shots A VR version of Mirror's Edge guaranteed to make every attendee sick.
Bethesda Softworks
Press conference: Sunday, June 12, 7pm Pacific / 3am UK (Liveblog link)
What we expect to see: After last year's explosive debut press conference featured Fallout 4 and a new Doom, Bethesda has given itself a tough act to follow. Dishonored 2 will almost certainly be the centerpiece of this year's presentation, after a short tease last year. Other than that, nothing much is certain.What we might or might not see: Pretty much every major franchise under Bethesda's umbrella is rumored to have a sequel in the works, from Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Evil Within to Prey. Last generation RPG hit The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is also heavily rumored to be staring down a graphical remaster for newer hardware. Personally, we're holding out hope for a Doom-style revamp of some other classic id Software properties. How about a new Quake or Hexen?
Long shots: There's probably still a couple of people clamoring for a sequel to Brink.
Microsoft
Press Conference: Monday, June 13, 9:30am Pacific / 5:30pm UK (Liveblog link)
What we expect to see: At this point, there have been enough credible reports that Microsoft is planning some update to the Xbox One line that we'd be surprised if there weren't any hardware announcements at this conference. The word on the street points to a more-powerful, VR-capable version of the console for next year, and a smaller, cheaper version for this year, but the details shift quite a bit from report to report.On the software side, Xbox console exclusives like ReCore, Tacoma, and Sea of Thieves will likely feature heavily, just like they did last year.
What we might or might not see: After last year's somewhat magical Minecraft demo on Hololens, Microsoft could try to wow us with some more augmented/mixed reality gaming at this year's show. We also haven't heard much about Crackdown 3 since its announcement at a Microsoft press conference two years ago. And then there are those Dead Rising 4 rumors...
Long shots: We said this last year, but after Rare Replay's launch, is a new Blast Corps too much to hope for?
PC Gaming Show
Press conference: Monday, June 13, 11:30am Pacific / 7:30pm UK (Liveblog link)
What we expect to see: After last year's long, somewhat dull presentation, we expect yet another lengthy list of minor PC gaming-focused announcements, mixed in with a few genuine surprises. Then again, maybe they learned their lesson and will keep things moving a bit faster this time around...What we might or might not see: The list of presenters this year features Microsoft, Oculus, and AMD, so there's a decent chance for some significant gaming-focused hardware and/or OS announcements at the show. On the software publisher side, companies like Nexon, Square Enix, and Sega will be proving that they haven't totally forgotten about the non-console side of home gaming.
Long shots: Unannounced guest Gabe Newell storms the stage, grabs the mic, and confirms that Half-Life 3 is cancelled.
Sony
Press conference: Monday, June 13, 6pm Pacific / 2am UK (Liveblog link)
What we expect to see: Prior to Thursday, Sony was heavily rumored to be gearing up for an announcement of upgraded console hardware at the show, sometimes called the "PlayStation 4K" in insider reports. Thursday morning the news dropped: the new console will be called the PS4 Neo, but it won't be shown at E3. Sony President and CEO Andrew House told the Financial Times that Sony wants to make sure it has "a full range of the best experiences" ready to show off before they demo the console.Absent the Neo, we're very likely see updates on a number of the biggest still-unreleased games from last year's Sony press conference: The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3, Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII remake, and Horizon: Zero Dawn among them.
What we may or may not see: With Hideo Kojima finally free of Konami and working on a PS4 console exclusive, we wouldn't be at all surprised if the Metal Gear Solid creator shows up to take a bow and show off his next project. We're a bit more on the fence regarding rumors of a new God of War, but there's a decent chance the famed Sony franchise shows up again this year.
Long shots: Jumping Flash VR would bring the current state of PlayStation history around full circle quite nicely.
The rest
Ubisoft will also be having a press conference, which we won't be covering live in favor of the PC Gaming Show (The Ars E3 team only has so many hands). Watch Dogs 2 and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands have been confirmed for a big splashy presentation at the show, and we expect previously announced games like For Honor, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, and the VR Eagle Flight to take places of pride, too. The publisher has said there won't be a new Assassin's Creed game this year, so maybe it will fill that hole with a completely new franchise (or Beyond Good & Evil 2... pretty please?)
Nintendo won't be having a press conference once again this year, and the company is even eschewing its traditional "Nintendo Direct" online presentation in favor of a full day of online gameplay demonstrations. On the show floor, the Wii U maker says it will be showing only one game—the new Legend of Zelda—and won't be discussing plans for the shadowy NX console ahead of its planned March 2017 launch.
After the press conferences, we have two-and-a-half straight days of nonstop meetings and show floor demos planned for E3. We're particularly looking forward to further checking out Oculus' Touch controllers, getting actual hands-on time with some games of E3 past like Tacoma and The Last Guardian, and hopefully testing out whatever new hardware is on tap from Microsoft. Keep checking Ars all week for plenty of reports, photos, and videos from the show floor.
reader comments
25