Another year another expo to show off anticipated games for this year and beyond. It's a tough act to follow, last year announced a lot of dream projects that have been desired for so long (Last Guardian, FFVII Remake, Shenmue 3) that it almost feels like there is very little left. That shouldn't stop people from getting excited however, 2016 has been a fantastic year for games so far and there is more to come. Let's go through the big publishers and find out when to expect press conferences and what games to look forward to.
What: The world's premier trade show for computer and video games.
When: June 14 - 16, 2016 (press conferences start June 12)
Where: Los Angeles Convention Center
How: Live streams or via attendance
Website: https://www.e3expo.com EA (June 12 1:00 PM PDT or 9:00 PM GMT)
A lot earlier than usual, EA will be the first big publisher to deliver a press conference (just as well, they're usually the most boring). Expect the usual sports titles and mobile games, but in addition expect more footage and announcements on Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, Mass Effect Andromeda and possibly the single player Star Wars third person shooter they've been working on for a while now.
Bethesda (June 12 7:00 PM PDT or 3:00 AM GMT)
Definitely looking forward to seeing more of Dishonored 2, the first game is a fantastic stealth game with a unique setting so I'm absolutely excited to see where a current gen sequel can take us. Rumour has it that a remastered version of Skyrim will be announced as well. Other than that I'm honestly not sure what else is on their agenda so potentially there could be a number of nice surprises! Or they could be crap! Exciting!
Microsoft (June 13 9:30 AM PDT or 5:30 PM GMT)
It's been a rough period for Microsoft lately, Halo 5 and Quantum Break didn't impress as much as they had hoped, the Tomb Raider exclusive didn't really go over well and recent reports suggest sales for the Xbox One are lower than expected. It doesn't help when you have few exclusives the audience really cares about. If Halo 5 won't get people excited, what chances does Gears of War 4 have? One big announcement which could be on the agenda, is that they follow Sony's route and announce an upgraded console, one that can come close to high end PC capabilities. Sony have already confirmed their upgraded PS4 won't be showing at E3, so Microsoft could capitalise on any potential buyers early... But if you don't have the games worth playing, what's the point? Here's hoping they surprise us with new IP's. I am looking forward to seeing what Scalebound looks like now, looks like Platinum Games most ambitious title yet and Kamiya can do no wrong in my opinion. Cuphead will no doubt still look gorgeous. Expect Gears 4, Forza and Crackdown to also feature heavily.
Ubisoft (June 13 1:30 PM PDT or 9:30 PM GMT)
Typically Assassins Creed would draw my interest in Ubisoft's conferences, but after the confirmation that the series is taking a break, my interest level has gone down, particularly for the games they have already confirmed. Expect to see more on the recently announced Watch Dogs 2, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, For Honor and the South Park RPG. Ubisoft also usually save a surprise reveal at the end for a new game or two so I'll be curious to see what that will be, even though they haven't done themselves favors by using E3 demos to continually misrepresent how good their games will look before their retail release.
Sony (June 13 5:30 PM PDT or 1:30 AM GMT)
They continue to ride high on a wave created by the gaming community after making dreams come true in last year's press conference. Sony have a lot to live up to this year, there just aren't as many dream projects that would get the community at large excited in quite the same way as a FF7 Remake or Shenmue 3. It would be foolish to expect them to try and top it so expectations must be kept in check. I hope they're able to show off more of FF7 or Shenmue 3 but that's wishful thinking for now. I would definitely expect to see more of Last Guardian, No Man's Sky and Horizon : Zero Dawn. I wouldn't be surprised if they revealed God of War 4 either and potentially an announcement for The Last of Us 2. It's all Sony's to lose at this point, but of the big three I just think they could play it safe and still come out on top, especially when you have to consider.....
Nintendo (June 14 9:00 AM PDT or 5:00 PM GMT)
What a shame. Nintendo this year doesn't even have a Nintendo Direct, highlighting just how they've left the Wii U to suffer a slow demise. Instead they will be concentrating on livestream events for remaining Wii/3DS games to come out, most notably the new Zelda and absolutely one of my most anticipated games that I want to see at E3. But as they are working on their new console, the NX, it's disappointing that we won't get to see any of it right now. We'll make due with what we have and to that end, expect to see more on Zelda, Pokemon Sun/Moon, Fire Emblem x SMT and Paper Mario to name a few.
Square Enix While there is no official press conference per say, it's worth mentioning Square Enix just for the number of anticipated games coming out which look fantastic. I was genuinely impressed last year with SE and that carries on through now, as we can expect to see and hear more on FFXV, FFVII, FFXII Remaster, Deus EX : Mankind Divided, Star Ocean, Nier Automata, Kingdom Hearts 3... A lot of good looking games there worth looking out for.
I intend to update the topic as we go on, felt like the above is a decent starting point. What games are you looking forward to seeing more of? What surprises would you like to see?