It’s that time of year again folks. E3 is fast approaching, and with it the hopes that we’ll see some earth shaking reveals, tension building teasers and ground breaking innovations to the gaming medium we know and love. While a hefty amount of titles have already been revealed though, some are still only whispers among fans and would make their days should they be officially revealed by their respective developers. That’s to say nothing of technological improvements that could be made to the current hardware on the market, or small quality of play tweaks that could give certain consoles an edge in the coming year. With that in mind, here are the 10 announcements we want to see at this year’s E3 press conferences.
Microsoft Goes All Out With Exclusives This Year
Let’s be frank: The Xbox One X, as powerful as it may be, desperately needs exclusive games. It’s a well known issue that fans have been pestering Microsoft about for a while now, and while some cool new IPs like Sea of Thieves have given them a little breathing room, they’re still far and away from the diverse lineup of exclusives both Sony and Nintendo have and continue to build upon.
Come their conference on June 10, we want to see a slew of new titles on their way to the Xbox One within the year. This could mean ports of proven hits from the PlayStation 4, third party exclusives from the likes of Square Enix or Ubisoft, or even in-house titles from the company’s affiliate developers; so long as they’re titles which give gamers a reason to dust off their consoles, we’ll be more than satisfied.
A Release Date for the Final Fantasy VII Remake
Though the title itself may still be vaporware as far as many people are concerned, the Final Fantasy VII Remake is still one of the most hotly anticipated titles among RPG fans new and old alike. Offering visuals on par with the most recent entry in the series, it looks to take everything that made the original a stand-out hit of its generation and bring it up to current industry standards, from faster, more action oriented combat to an episodic story structure.
While it’s understandable that an undertaking of this scale would take an untold amount of time and money, it would still be a huge moment for fans to catch at least a glimpse of the light at the end of its development title with Square Enix providing some sort of firm time frame for the game’s launch. Even if it is just a speculative date based on the current build, such an announcement could further build anticipation and keep gamers at the peak of their excitement for this title’s eventual release.
An Official Reveal for Shadows Die Twice
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Ever since it was teased at the 2017 Game Awards, gamers have been clamoring for more information on From Software’s upcoming title Shadows Die Twice. Â Little has been confirmed about the title other than that it isn’t Bloodborne 2 and that more news would come within the year, but that alone has been enough to get Souls fans and general gamers alike excited for whatever reveal the developer has in store.
Whether it came from Sony, Microsoft or whoever else, a full-scale reveal of the game would go miles toward making this year’s E3 one to remember, whether that means the release of an extended gameplay trailer or a more detailed explanation of what the game has to offer and how it will play.
Sony Will Allow Cross-Play Functionality
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As great as Sony’s first party support may be, a noticeable weak point on their presence this console generation has been their refusal to allow cross play between versions of their games and those available for Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. This has only become more frustrating with the continued input from developers that it is more than possible to achieve, and has even been activated accidentally for the popular online multiplayer and battle royale title Fortnite before being reversed indefinitely.
No matter how many new game footage they may show for upcoming first party exclusives, the amount of hype and buzz Sony could generate by announcing cross play would be astronomical in comparison. Factor in the continued rise in popularity of titles like Fortnite and it only becomes more logical that Sony should make this announcement sooner rather than later.
A New Core Elder Scrolls Game Reveal
10 Big E3 Announcements That Would Leave Us Shook
Jokes about the never ending list of port announcements aside, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released nearly seven years ago now. While it has seen continued support from not only Bethesda through remasters and updates but also from fans through expansive mods and fan creations, it still begs the question of when the series will take the next step forward, either for this console generation or for those still to come.
Whether it would be in the form of a short teaser or through a full scale trailer, any piece of news related to a new core Elder Scrolls title could very well become the talk of the show, not to mention increase the already great press Bethesda enjoys from fans and the wider community alike. Throw in the fact that they’ve already announced the upcoming Fallout 76 and they could very easily take the title for most successful press conference of the show as well.
An Actual Rare Revival
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Microsoft is sitting on a treasure trove of some truly great IPs with the Rare brand. Yes, it’s well documented that nearly all of the team that made up the Rare of the 90s is long gone, but that doesn’t mean that Microsoft couldn’t find talented developers that are capable of reviving one of Rare’s beloved IPs. The only catch is how much of Rare’s team is still dedicated to Sea of Thieves, and would Microsoft be willing to add some people to that crew to help develop something besides Sea of Thieves which does have content planned throughout the year and beyond.
A new Banjo-Kazooie or Perfect Dark game would generate a ton of buzz for Microsoft. It could be part of an exclusive games package this year at E3 that includes new IPs, classic ones like Halo and Gears of War, and maybe even a surprise acquisition or two. Putting something like this together could be what Microsoft needs to finally lure some Sony and Nintendo fans to picking up an Xbox One as well, or finally get long standing fence sitters off the fence, and onto Microsoft’s lawn.
New IP Reveals From Ubisoft
10 Big E3 Announcements That Would Leave Us Shook
Among those presenting at this year’s E3, Ubisoft may have the most freedom to do something new and interesting. No longer at an immediate risk of being bought out by Vivendi, the company now has more breathing room to operate and function in their own way, making titles which can stray and experiment from their established moulds if they so choose. This looks to be a probable possibility too, with the company teasing new games in their E3 line-up reveal.
With this in mind, we hope the company introduces games which break from their established series and their gameplay. As great as titles like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry are at what they do, there’s only so much that new games could do by aping them in the hopes of repeating their success. As risky as it might be, offering up new titles with different takes on how the game is played could make for some stand out titles, especially with the quality and variety of games only increasing as this generation goes on.
Any Kind of Good News From EA
10 Big E3 Announcements That Would Leave Us Shook
To cut a long story short, EA has angered a lot of fans over the last year. Between the closure of Visceral Games last October, the less than stellar performance of Mass Effect: Andromeda, and the controversy over Star Wars Battlefront II due to its loot box mechanics, they’ve experienced harsh criticism from many in the video game community. As such, this year will be vital for the company to regain some good standing with gamers not only through the titles they release, but the practices they’ll use moving forward.
In that regard, we could really only ask for something from EA that doesn’t result in the widespread hate of the community. It could be the reveal of what Visceral’s former Star Wars game has turned into; a new batch of IPs for gamers to dig their teeth into; or even just a confirmation that they won’t develop games with as invasive of loot box systems as Battlefront II had.
So in other words, if we can walk out of EA’s press conference on a positive note with the majority of the video game community not mad at EA about something (warranted or not) that would be pleasantly surprising.
An Official Reveal of Cyberpunk 2077
10 Big E3 Announcements That Would Leave Us Shook
After the unbridled success of The Witcher 3 in 2015, many were hungry for information on what developer CD Projekt Red had up their sleeve for their next project. They weren’t disappointed when Cyberpunk 2077, a dystopian open world game where player choice and agency is paramount, was revealed to be in development with an even larger team and on a newly developed engine. Since then, info has been slow to trickle out about what the game has to offer, leaving many wondering what the final product will appear as.
Being a third party developer, either Sony or Microsoft could potentially reveal more concrete details about the game during their press conferences, taking in the fans of the developer and their work as a result. Even looking past that, the game could prove to be a dark horse contender for the best game in show if what’s shown lives up to the hype surrounding it.
A Firm Release Date for Kingdom Hearts 3
10 Big E3 Announcements That Would Leave Us Shook
After over a decade of waiting for a core entry in the Kingdom Hearts series, fans have the release of Kingdom Hearts 3 in sight. A recent event offered hands on impressions from critics, and Square Enix has gone on record saying the game will receive a firm release date sometime this month.
No matter how minor it may be presented as during their conference, the announcement would be a show stopper should it be done during Square’s press conference. Fans are eager to see the finale to the series, and even if it doesn’t make its intended release window of the last quarter of this year, they’ll be more than willing to wait a little bit longer for the hotly anticipated title.
What announcements are you most looking forward to seeing at E3 2018? Let us know in the comments below.
Published: Jun 6, 2018 10:34 am