E3 2017: Early Information

E3 2017 beginning to take shape and it already looks exciting, with Bethesda confirming the date and time of their press conference for the Sunday night before it all starts, June 11, 2017. Commenting on Microsoft’s move from their long-standing Monday morning press conference to Sunday afternoon before Bethesda, a post on Twitter read, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

It was announced earlier this year that E3 2017 would be open to the public, with 15,000 early bird and standard tickets being sold directly to gamers and fans of games. Now more and more developers are teasing what they’ll be revealing at their press conferences, setting E3 2017 up to be one of the most exciting for the industry and consumers.

Bethesda

Todd Howard, revealed in an interview that Bethesda are working on two projects that are much larger than anything they’ve done before. The two teams working on these projects are staggering development, working across the projects, which could indicate that they’re going to release in the same year. We also know that these games are in the same ‘wheelhouse’ as what we’re used to from Bethesda, meaning we can expect a massive open world to explore, RPG elements, potentially superb shooting, and an engrossing and enormous world we never want to leave. Last time when Bethesda did a press conference at E3, they announced Fallout 4, and it released it in the same year. This was a bold move that paid off for the publisher then and this could indicate that we’ll be seeing games we can play this year when June rolls around.

Sunday before E3 getting busy. Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery. Bethesda E3 Showcase will still be Sunday pm. Details soon! #BE3 pic.twitter.com/Sm7auKtFDf

— Bethesda Softworks (@bethesda) February 16, 2017

Microsoft

Microsoft, in addition to moving their press conference to be the earliest at this year’s E3, have confirmed they’ll be holding an Xbox Fan Fest during the course of the week as well. The festival has been held at other events such as Gamescom, and celebrates Xbox gamers with competitions, opportunities for fans, and events.

With regards to games Microsoft has been very quiet, though the developers of popular zombie survival game State of Decay 2, Undead Labs, have not been so quiet about the fact that their latest game will be shown off at E3 2017.

Other than this admittedly small title for Microsoft, Project Scorpio is the only thing they will confirm. The new console was announced last year and is set to be the next generation of games console from Microsoft. Developers have already had their hands of development kits for some time, and this year’s E3 will be the time we see not only the console, but the titles for launch and beyond that will hopefully make it great.

Brace for big news.#XboxE3 briefing will air Sunday, June 11 at 2 PM PT. pic.twitter.com/EWilMOb47s

— Xbox (@Xbox) February 15, 2017

Sony

While Sony seem to have developed a knack for great E3 press conferences, news on upcoming releases is slim. Up until last Fall the big draw was the Playstation 4 Pro, and Playstation VR, both of which have sold incredibly well, boosting Sony and the Playstation 4’s popularity immensely.

Sony has said nothing about a Playstation 5, and with it’s unlikely that they will, with two new versions of the PS4 so recently released. Improved VR technology, or simply more VR games and support, should be one focus of their press conference. However, new games are what people love to see, and unless they’re being kept secret by the developers incredibly well we know of none which seem to be exciting.

What Sony will show off are games such as Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and Detroit: Become Human, the next interactive story from Quantic Dream, best-known for Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain, and Beyond: Two Souls. A Final Fantasy 7 remake is also in the works, with episodic releases planned, though development appears to be slow, indicating we may simply see a cutscene for the game as opposed to anything more tangible.

Sony’s biggest game of 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn, releases in a matter of days, but news on DLC is scarce, and a season pass isn’t even being sold yet. With this game being such a core release for Sony in 2017, it is quite likely to see something about it at E3.

Nintendo

With the Switch releasing in a matter of days Nintendo is going to be talking about nothing but their new console and the games releasing for it throughout 2017. The launch lineup for the console is quite thin, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild heading up among other smaller titles such as The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth+. With the company pushing the games we know about, it’s what they haven’t told us that should be exciting.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition is out soon after the Switch, so there should be some gameplay at their press conference, particularly to highlight the multiplayer aspect. Splatoon 2 is part of Nintendo’s two year plan for their new console, and Nintendo want to push it after the popularity of the first game, meaning we should see a lot of gameplay for it on the stage too. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 may be a single player game, but the series is popular across a number of Nintendo consoles. The game won’t be out soon but Nintendo will probably show some more details of it, because all we’ve had so far is a trailer.

EA and Ubisoft

EA will show off all of the sports games coming out this year, including Fifa 18 and the new Madden, which have key audiences who will be eagerly awaiting news on new features. Ubisoft however, have had a very good year so far with For Honor, and Ghost Recon Wildlands just around the corner. They usually show everything they can to get fans excited, and this year will be the year they bring back Assassin’s Creed. The developers stopped producing annual releases two years ago, saying they needed more time to work on each game in order to make them as great as fans expect them to be. The rumours say that this iteration will be set in Egypt, but no further leaks have occurred so far.