Road To E3 2019

Road To E3 2019

The known bits and speculation what to expect from this year's E3 event.

EA

Most likely EA or Warner (or Konami but what are they up to?) are the first publishers to kick-off the information flow before the weekend prior to the expo. From the earnings call it is known Need for Speed and Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare are planned for 2019, so I guess EA Play is the place to present them. Last year Jedi: Fallen Order was teased by Zampella himself and scheduled this fall. Without doubt milk-cow Anthem will get spotlight for year one content.

Warner Bros.

I just read Warner is going to publish Cyberpunk 2077 in the U.S. . Since CD Projekt Red confirmed they are participating E3 we might get new intel on the anticipated RPG that sparked enormous interest after last years showing at the end of Microsoft's conference.

Microsoft

Though Microsoft is to be seen as only 'the third winner' after Sony and a convincing Nintendo thanks to their Switch releases, E3 2018 was an important one for the Xbox brand. Numerous studios have been acquired and Spencer was talking about the next "Xboxes". 2019 is going to be a curious one depending on whether new hardware is teased or the dozen of studios could present their next projects. New tech will most likely be shown off with the new engine for Halo Infinite. So, will we get a big bundle of information or are we put to 2020 where both Sony and Microsoft are believed to release the next consoles. Personally, I just hope they learned from their past and don't go full streaming tech (and streaming content) with codenamed consoles Lockhart and Anaconda. At the same time, providing all news for the new hardware will give insight to Sony and their plans which backfired last time. MS needs to hit a balance between reasonable hardware for consumers and a forecast to what games to expect this and the following year(s).

Bethesda

While Bethesda was a crowd favourite during many years releasing beloved single player games (Doom, Wolfenstein, Elder Scrolls, Fallout) the firm tried something new with Fallout 76 and displeased fans. My guessing is, as soon a trailer from the likes of Elder Scrolls 6 hits the internet all this chatter will be a thing from the past. Since many publishers hold their cards for releases in the far future and little news is provided for the next consoles - it is to be seen which games release for this console generation and which ones are clearly next-gen titles.

Ubisoft

IIRC only Skull & Bones and Just Dance are more or less to be expected at their press conference. Beyond Good & Evil 2 could be shown, though, as I mentioned which games release on the current hardware? I highly doubt Ubisoft is teasing this big project for the third(?) year and releasing it on old hardware only. Maybe the consoles are backwards compatible after all or the 'Definite Edition' stuff on next-gen is going to repeat itself.
Their games-as-a-service lineup might see new content (The Division 2 for sure, maybe even Rainbow Six Siege or For Honor). My hope is to hear from new Tom Clancy's titles, like Wildlands 2 or even a Splinter Cell reboot. The math is The Division released 2016 and 2019. Wildlands 2017 and hopefully 2020. For my part I mostly enjoy their conferences and am looking forward to the next one.

Square-Enix

The publisher confirmed a big budget title is released between April 2019 and March 2020. The two heavy weights that come to mind are Final Fantasy 7 Remake or the big Avengers project which was trailered a couple years ago. Since Sony has no E3 presence I doubt FF7R which is set to release on a PS console first is going to be a thing. So my personal guess is the Avengers game.

Sony

Well. After countless years of Sony dominating this console generation and a slight change of showings at last year's event, PlayStation has no press conference nor gaming booths at E3 for the first time. The official word reads "we want to find new ways to delight gamers". As a financial/business decision I get that. But at the same time, why not at least run a booth and teasing the 25th PlayStation anniversary for next year. Sony literally offers zero news on what to expect which in my opinion is a quite sad (and strategicly strange) move towards E3 as a gamers event in general.
I'd picture these scenarios:
- PlayStation sold double the amount of consoles than Microsoft. This generation is more or less done for Sony. And Sony is awaiting Microsoft's next move.
- PlayStation Experience later this year might be the place to speak to the fans (maybe depending what date the new console is announced/released). But there was no PlayStation Experience last year (and no confirmation for this year).
- All of this is saving ammo. The big guns are on hold for next year's 25th anniversary of the PlayStation brand (with an own event or the return to E3).
- A video presentation in the likes of Nintendo Direct presentations. Since there are games out in the wild like The Last Of Us 2 which don't have release dates yet.

Nintendo

I am eager to see whether Nintendo continues to offer Nintendo Direct video presentations like in the last years. Next to the booths they had the Treehouse streams to show off and talk about games.
We are for sure going to see the new president of all things America Doug Bowser in his new position and I'd put my money on Link's Awakening which was the Zelda title announced during the last Nintendo Direct. At the same time, I am hella miss Reggie in interviews during E3.

The E3 press conferences and trailers are certainly the Christmas of games for many fans. I can only recommend to keep track of streams and platforms during June. Further, industry veteran Geoff Keighley will (I guess) host the official E3 interviews before and after the events and there's also the E3 Coliseum which hosts panels for countless interesting guests and developers.