E3 2019 might have proved to be the ‘leakiest’ E3 till date, with a majority of games being leaked out way before their official announcement. Despite that, Microsoft’s E3 conference lived up to expectations. Microsoft had promised quite a few announcements during their conference at E3, and they did not disappoint. If you happened to miss out any portion of the video, and want to update yourself about the main announcements, look no further. We have prepared a handy list for you to follow and keep up with what went on during the conference at E3 :-
The Outer Worlds
The Outer Worlds gets another gameplay trailer – People are already quite excited for a new RPG, and Outer Worlds does have quite some potential to live up to. A new trailer dropped at the beginning of the session, showing us some aspects of game design and the world itself.
Bleeding Edge
Ninja Theory reveal a new 4v4 competitive action game – Ninja Theory wants to get into the world of competitive multiplayer after the success of Hellblade : Senua’s Sacrifice. Well, the game’s quite unlike any action game people might have seen before. For instance, you actually punch and kick your opponents to death in this! Called Bleeding Edge, it didn’t attract as much attention it should have because fans were disappointed at the prospect of a multiplayer game. However, being developed by Ninja Theory, be prepared for some surprises – especially since Devil May Cry combat director Rahni Tucker is on the job. A technical alpha is scheduled to launch on June 27 – feel free to check out the game for what it is.
Minecraft Dungeons
Minecraft Dungeons, a spin-off based on the original Minecraft, is announced – Apparently Microsoft isn’t really done with Microsoft yet. Minecraft Dungeons is a new dungeon crawler in the Minecraft world. Kill creeps, undead and other enemies, collect resources, loot items while exploring endless dungeons – everything one gets to do in a standard dungeon crawler. This isn’t exactly a game people expected to see, and public opinion about it is skeptical to say the least. Let’s see how it turns out.
Wasteland 3
Wasteland 3 is the second sequel in the genre-defining post-apocalyptic RPG series that dates back to 1988. Wasteland 3 was crowdfunded long before the MS acquisition of inXile and thus is excluded from their future exclusive deals. But that didn’t stop the developers from showing off their game like their peers Obsidian Entertainment. The trailer introduced the game’s setting of frozen Colorado, its bizarre roster of characters and showed a glimpse of the various threats the Desert Rangers will have to face.
Cyberpunk 2077
Keanu Reeves stars in Cyberpunk 2077; official release date revealed – Cyberpunk 2077 is already one of the most hyped upcoming titles, but adding to the hype by allowing John Wick actor Keanu Reeves to make the official announcements? CD Projekt Red took advertising and creating hype to a whole new level with that. Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to come out on April 16, 2020. A grand action-packed story trailer showed off Reeves before he took the stage, making the audience burst into applause. Apparently, dogs in the future need protection, and Reeves is more than ready to take up the armor.
Xbox Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass gets official pricing – It has already been announced before E3 that Microsoft was trying to improve the Xbox Game Pass to increase its value to potential customers (it is difficult to understand how Microsoft plans to improve something which is already too good). The Xbox Game Pass will be coming to PC while continuing to add value to the Xbox One. The Xbox Game Pass in PC will be priced at $5 a month for the duration of the beta (which starts today), and is expected to cost $10 a month after the full release. For gamers “who want it all”, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate combines Xbox Game Pass for both PC and console with Xbox Live Gold for a special price of $15 per month. It’s a good takeaway for those having an Xbox One and a PC, since the Xbox Game Pass for PC comes completely free of charge. All variants of the Xbox Game Pass will be getting a throwaway price of $1 for the first month as a special E3 price. The value of the Xbox Game Pass carrying over to the PC, as well as the cheap starting price of $1 attracted some well-deserved applause. The Game Pass was already a deal which offered value for money, but getting to play games (especially AAA titles) as soon as they launch by paying as low as $10 is definitely something worth getting.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Moon Studios took up the occasion to show off their highly anticipated sequel to the smash hit platformer, Ori and the Blind Forest. The audience got to see some snippets of gameplay from the sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps as well as find out that the game will be releasing on February 11, 2020.
Double Fine Acquisition and Psychonauts 2
Microsoft acquires Double Fine Productions – Microsoft adds to the third party studios it already has this E3. Double Fine Productions, the studio behind games like Psychonauts and Brutal Legend will be officially joining the league of the Xbox Game Studios. A Psychonauts 2 trailer followed, showing off some gameplay. It is difficult to understand why acquiring third party studios is still a thing, but the primary guess is that it adds to the Xbox Game Pass, providing more value for customers.
Tales of Arise
Tales of Arise is revealed (as has already been leaked) – The leaks about another Tales of Arise game was true. The leak had destroyed a lot of the excitement, but it was still a breathtaking sight for all JRPG fans. No proper release date was given, except that the game releases in 2020 for the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One and the PC.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring, the From Software game having George R.R. Martin as the writer, is officially revealed – It was been revealed for quite some time now that From Software has been working with George R.R. Martin on a new game. The leaks about the name and the setting have been true – though watching the reveal on stage is an excitement in itself. The game is an action-RPG set in a new fantasy world created by George R.R. Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki – the creator of Dark Souls – and is said to be From Software’s “largest game till date”.
Project xCloud
Microsoft reveals its streaming service – Project xCloud – Microsoft has been planning to reveal a streaming service since the initial announcement for Google Stadia. xCloud is a streaming service which allows players to play their games from anyone, on a wide range of supported devices including smartphones. There’s no word on the pricing, but it’s sure to be extremely competitive to match what Google is offering. The ability to turn one’s own Xbox into a personal cloud server for streaming is surely a jaw-dropping feature, but the announcement goes strangely silent about the bandwidth requirements and the quality of streaming. With a release date of October, more details can be expected in the coming months.
Project Scarlett
Project Scarlett – the next-gen Xbox – gets a release date – The next Xbox comes with quite some hefty specifications, and is expected to be four times as fast as the Xbox One X, Microsoft’s fastest current-gen console. Powered by AMD Zen 2 and Navi architecture, the console promises some decent technological achievements. The console also uses a new SSD which offers upto fifty times better loading times than before. 8K gaming at 120 fps, when combined with hardware, accelerated ray tracing sure needs some beefy hardware to run, especially since 4k 60 fps with ray tracing is barely achievable now, that too with top-of-the-line graphics cards. Combine that with a variable refresh rate, and one can understand how unbelievable it sounds. (Well, time and some properly executed benchmarks will tell whether the claims are true or not.) Project Scarlett makes it to the market in December next year, and will come bundled with Halo Infinite.
Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite gets a new trailer – Halo Infinite had an aura of confusion about it when it was released. Some expected it to be a MMO, some a standard shooter, some even expected it to be a battle royale (how stupid can people be?) The game gets a new trailer this year, and Master Chief is confirmed to be back. However, there still is no explicit mention of what type of game it is – with the genre vaguely being mentioned as “shooter”. Halo Infinite will be powered by a new engine, and will “provide a glimpse into the future of the Halo franchise, leading it into new and unexpected directions.”
These were the key takeaways from the Microsoft Conference. Do let us know how you felt about the conference, and which announcement you found best in the comments below.