Just taking a simple look at my previous entries makes me nostalgic. How many E3's have I covered ever since I started this humble little blog..? Must be at least over five now. And yet, every year I look forward to it even more. It just goes to show the effect of this industry and how much we as gamers love what we follow. We can't get enough of it. Every year, from months before E3 even begins there are rumors, "leaks", searches for anything that might be related to what we'll actually get at the show from people who are simply too impatient to wait. I know what it's like, time literally doesn't go by when we talk about E3 or the release of our favorite titles. And yet, I've come to learn that it's the wait that makes it all so rewarding. Because in the end, once a title is released, that's it. You hardly hear of it anymore unless a big DLC is to be released for it or if it is mentioned by some website in a "top-10" kind of article. Otherwise, it's like all that waiting didn't even matter. We're so quick to consume everything nowadays...
But I digress. Here we are at the forefront of yet another E3 and anticipation is once again soaring through the roof. Of course, this year feels a bit off compared to others since there have been some significant changes and there is one huge absence that will however be filled by a surprise re-entry. More specifically, Sony have decided to sit it out in 2019, citing that they just don't have enough material for an entire showcase. An understandable decision, considering they have already done everything they needed to do to ensure they will remain successful up until the end of the PlayStation 4's (PS4) life cycle, with the recent announcement of the release date of Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding (November 8th) and strong speculation that The Last Of Us Part II will also be released at the start of the new year. Also let's not forget that Final Fantasy VII Remake is still scheduled to be a timed exclusive.
Speaking of FFVIIR, it is that game's developer that will be called to fill in for Sony this season. After many years of disappointments and calls on deaf ears, it appears the people at Square Enix have finally decided to listen to what their fans want and are coming to E3 2019 with all the big guns in their arsenal. Besides the aforementioned FFVIIR, that is scheduled to release more information "in June" (although that could mean the specific "Final Fantasy VII" concert that will take place in California on June 9th, with the game skipping out on E3 altogether, going down a similar route as Kingdom Hearts III last year), the Japanese company in association with Crystal Dynamics have also confirmed that they will be releasing information regarding their long-awaited Avengers project (tentatively titled Marvel's Avengers), while also bringing to their show the sequel to Dying Light (thanks to their partnership with the game's developer Techland). Of course, they will also be showing Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, the latest expansion of the popular MMORPG title and there are rumors going around of a Kingdom Hearts III presence (the DLC episodes are scheduled for release sometime before the end of the year, as stated by the game's director, Tetsuya Nomura.) So, with all this in store (and more?), it's easy to see how Square is really "bringing it" this year. It's quite possible that by the end of it, no one will even remember that Sony wasn't even there, especially if they finish it with a bang (*cough*, Final Fantasy XVI announcement, *cough*).
But apart from that, there are many other great things to look forward to at this year's E3, most notably from Microsoft, Bethesda, Ubisoft and Nintendo, who will all have their own showcases in one way or another.
The American giant plans to host a two-hour briefing on its usual schedule, where it will show off many of its own exclusive titles. According to a recent tweet by the Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, there are over 14 of their in-house studios waiting to reveal what they've been working on. So it should be a focus mainly on games, rather than hardware as we may have been used to. We can expect more info on Gears Of War 5, something new on Halo Infinite of course and a lot of third-party titles, but apart from that it's really anyone's guess what we're going to see here. Maybe something new from Hellblade studio Ninja Theory, who knows..?
Same can pretty much be said about Nintendo. The company has gone all out on Pokemon even before E3 rises its curtains, after the recent announcement of Pokemon Home, Pokemon Sleep and Pokemon Masters and another specific live stream for the franchise scheduled for June 5th, where the focus will be on the two new mainline entries, Sword and Shield. Apart from all that, it really is worth wondering what else they might have hidden for the actual E3 Nintendo Direct? New Mario title? Maybe more info on Metroid Prime 4 or Bayonetta 3? New characters for Smash Bros Ultimate? New Yoshi, DK or Kirby titles? It really is anybody's guess what we might get yet it is worth noting that these shows go for at least an hour. So they should have quite a lot under their sleeve if they felt they needed to get Pokemon out of the way.
What about Bethesda and Ubisoft..? Well, let's just say they've already left everyone with a sour taste in their mouths before the show even commenced. On the one hand, Bethesda already confirmed that neither The Elder Scrolls VI nor new franchise Starfield will be making an appearance, asking their fans to be "a bit more patient", while Ubi will be discussing their own highly anticipated title Beyond Good And Evil 2, but only during a short live stream before the show in order to "update fans about its development". No actual footage will be shown.
As to what we can expect from the two, well, thanks to a certain leak we already kinda know what's coming from the French studio. There will be three unannounced titles showcased -with hopes that among them will be the new Assassin's Creed, South Park and Watch Dog entries-, while they will also be discussing their new subscription service, the Ubi Pass. Bethesda, meanwhile, will of course be showing off Doom Eternal, but other than that not much else is known (new Wolfenstein or Evil Within maybe..?)
And then there are titles who aren't actually associated with anything, but are confirmed to be at E3 2019. Most notable among them is CD Project Red's Cyberpunk 2077. It's safe to assume that, with Sony absent, Microsoft will be more than happy to show off this marvel to the gaming industry. Additionally, there are other developers such as Bandai Namco (new Dragon Ball Z action-adventure title info could be released), Capcom (Dino Crysis remake?), Quantic Dream, Take-Two, XSEED and Activision, who could all potentially have their own unique titles to show off. Again, the place to look for them would be the Microsoft showcase, as the company has made a solid effort to bring in more third-party studios to their team.
Finally, EA is also going to be at E3 with their usual sports bonanza. They will also be showing Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order. Hopefully this time, the game won't be hidden behind a paywall...
And that's pretty much all we can expect from this year's E3, which kicks off in less than 10 days now! Unreal how time flies. The games we got in between the two conferences were nothing to scoff at either (my personal favorites being Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Kingdom Hearts III.) It's interesting to think about what the experiences we'll have between this conference and E3 2020. Time to get blown away again!
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