What To Expect When You’re Expecting: E3 2018 Showcase Predictions! (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo)
Ted Hentschke
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A dash of Bloodborne 2. A pinch of Halo 6. Generous chunks of Devil May Cry 5. Bring to a simmer. Garnish with Half-Life 3. Pour generous servings directly into the toilet. That’s how you make a quality E3 rumor stew.
Yes, it’s that time of year again! The winds of change are blowing, and the sails of the rumor mills twirl and grind out a fresh batch of quality speculation, ready to mulch into fresh memes and half-baked theories. June means E3—the largest video game conference in the world—and with it the endless torrents of predictions, leaks, “leaks,” speculation, and altogether clickbait nonsense. 2018 is no different, and for weeks my news feed has been saturated by various images of dubious leaked press releases and press conference lineups.
The real question is, why aren’t I getting in on all of these delicious clicks! I’ve been going to E3 for 6 years now, where’s my fucking trophy? Dread Central is heading to E3 in force this year, with all your favorite Teds and Jonathans doing their best to bring you the video game coverage of your dreams. So I’m doing my part to kick things off a bit early this year with my E3 predictions. We’ve got quite the show coming up, so broken down by showcase and developer, here’s what I think is in store for us. Keep in mind, I’m only listing games that would be relevant to DC readers, so sorry if I miss the new FIFA or whatever.
Trust me. I’m a professional.
Microsoft XBox Briefing (Sunday, June 10th, 1 pm):
Proud member of the Big 3 (Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony), Microsoft has traditionally been the first out of the gate every year. An impressive mix of hardware, games, and for some reason automobiles, the Microsoft showings have always been as much about spectacle and grandeur as they are about actual gaming. There isn’t a lot of variation from year to year, so I’m pretty confident calling the broad strokes of what we’re going to see.
First up, I’m inclined to believe the Walmart Canada leaks with their Gears of War 5 listing. I don’t really believe it’s coming up anytime soon, but if we’re looking at 2020-2021 releases then it fits. I don’t have a lot of clever things to say about these predictable flagship franchises, so I’m going to make the judgement call that the new Gears of War is going to be a prequel. I think we already had one of those, so let’s make it a prequel prequel. I’m basing this all on the current buzz that Dave Bautista wants to play Marcus Fenix, and it’s just cheaper to make a prequel with mostly intact sets than the ruined world of Gears of War.
I’m going to also make the lazy prediction that something about Halo will be shown. It’s been three years since the last proper Halo game (I don’t count Halo Wars), so fans are practically frothing at the mouth for something new. I only vaguely remember Halo 5, but it had something to do with rampancy and an AI rebellion? Idk, there’s gonna be a Halo 6 and I’ll probably buy it.
A little bit less mainline, expect some news on Quantum Break. Even though the game received some pretty mixed reviews, I know that Remedy is making a large showing at E3 this year. So if it’s Quantum Break 2 I’ll be pretty happy, and if it’s Alan Wake 2 I’ll be shitting my pants with joy.
I also expect to hear something about Borderlands 3. I’m fully aware that Borderlands isn’t an Xbox exclusive, but I just have a feeling on this one. Call it gamer’s intuition.
There’s also going to be fair amount of talk about new hardware, because there always is. My money is on Microsoft planting a solid flag in the VR marketplace. I remember one of the selling points for the One X—then known as Project Scorpio—was that it was “VR Ready.” A promise that has since meant about as much as nipple tassels on a goldfish. Expect a partnership with either Google or Oculus, and as a long shot even HTC. As one of those weirdos that still has a Kinect, I’d shit bricks of they plan on making the Vive work with Kinect support.
Now for things I actually care about: indie games. Microsoft always has a solid focus on their indie marketplace, a holdover from the days when they were heavily pushing their Summer of Arcade events. Two big titles to keep an eye on here. The first is a Dark Souls looking game called Ashen. I did a little piece on it back during E3 2017, but since then then it’s radio silence. Given the indie market’s love for unique art style and hardcore souls-type games, I expect they have been keeping it under wraps for this very reason.
The second title I’m going to call is We Happy Few. Microsoft made a big deal about this surreal horror survival game back in 2016, and since then it’s seen some success in the Steam Early Access and the Xbox Game Preview programs. Since then there’s been some updates here and there, but the big hint comes from the game being pulled from availability back in February. Combined with the fact that the game just recently got denied classification in Australia (effectively banned), that means they are ramping up to a big full release. My prediction is that We Happy Few is not just close to done, it’s actually done, and will be released in full during the Xbox E3 Briefing.
Sony Press Conference (Monday, June 11th, 6 pm):
While the Microsoft showcase tends to be a mix of new games, tech, services, and promotional stuff, the Sony showcase has always been more singular in focus. The screen goes dark, a curtain rises, and for an hour the audience is bombarded with wave after wave of games. Intermittently a spokesperson will stumble out, talk about how important games are to the Playstation, and then more games. It’s a Caligulan feast of of debaucherous joy, filling your senses with so many endorphins that you could get arrested for bringing it across the border.
Sony also made my job a bit easy this year by tweeting about two of their main showstoppers, Death Stranding and The Last of Us 2. Even without the reveal, this isn’t exactly a surprise. The Last of Us was one of the defining games of the last console generation, and ever since Konami’s public declaration of war against all of gaming Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding has become the figurehead for the fight to keep storytelling in games. You could seriously just show gameplay of either of these for 10 minutes followed by 50 minutes of abrasive static, and people would still tune in for the whole thing.
The downside to the Sony showcase is that they don’t really have qualms filling their time with games that aren’t slated to release for several years. Hell, the Final Fantasy 7 remake was announced years ago. So I might as well predict a new Uncharted game slated for 2025. Actually… Uncharted 2025 sounds pretty sweet… In any case I’m taking some educated stabs in the dark for your reading pleasure.
First and foremost, I think Bloodborne 2 is going to be on the docket. FromSoft released an enigmatic trailer a while back, and with the recent release of Dark Souls 3 I’m willing to bet it’s the next Bloodborne. This might just be wishful thinking on my part, as the Dark Souls: Remastered didn’t scratch my Souls-itch the way I thought it would.
I also think that there’s a solid chance we’ll hear about whatever Capcom game they are revealing this year. Now if leaks and rumors are to be believed, we’ve got both a Resident Evil 2 remake and Devil May Cry 5 on the table. I’d put good odds on Resident Evil 2, since re-releasing old Resident Evil games is basically the Capcom money printing machine. As for Devil May Cry 5, I’m a tad more skeptical. DMC: Devil May Cry already took the series in a new direction, and it would be weird for them to just backtrack. Aside from that, I don’t expect to see new Monster Hunter World info. It’s standard for an updated Monster Hunter edition to come out some time after the main game to add expansion content, but it’s too soon after the release.
Also expect to see some news on Days Gone. It’s concerning that a game they featured so heavily in the last two conferences still hasn’t seen a release, but from what I hear about the behind closed doors presentations the game looks to be in an almost finished state. Maybe this is just more wishful thinking on my part, but I want my bikers v zombies game, dammit! *EDIT: I was right, just a little sooner than expected
A few series we haven’t heard from in a while are Killzone, Resistance, and Infamous. Chances are low on any of these seeing a new title this year, but mostly because the studios are working on other stuff. The Killzone team (Guerrilla Games) has since made the incredibly successful Horizon Zero Dawn, which just came out last year. Similarly, Resistance’s Insomniac is developing the Playstation exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man, which is certain to see a significant amount of screentime at the showcase. Another title slated for the showcase is Ghost of Tsushima, developed by the minds behind Infamous. So mostly no movement on these fronts because the teams are busy developing other awesome exclusive games.
Overall, I don’t have many bold predictions for Sony. All I know is that if every other year tells me anything, this show is one you do not want to miss.
Nintendo Stream (Monday, June 12th, 9 am):
Metroid 4. That’s all I want. It was announced last year, time to pay up Nintendo.
So what do you all think? Any games you predict will be revealed this year? Let me know in the comments. For all our E3 coverage, make sure to follow our social media tag #DreadE3 and you can also read all our other coverage right here!
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
