Xbox's E3 2018 conference summary: a new Halo, three new Gears of War games, and a lot of money flying around
For those just joining us, here’s what’s happened so far at E3 2018’s first big news day.
Microsoft showed 50 new games for Xbox and PC during its E3 2018 conference, kicking off with a new Halo game called Halo Infinite. Three new Gears of War games also made an appearance: one on mobile (Gears Pop!), one for PC (Gears Tactics), and one for Xbox One (Gears 5), starring returning character Kait Diaz.
Forza Horizon 4 is a new racing game that’s played in an online world where every driver you meet is another human being. It’s set in the UK, with dynamic weather and seasons that players across the world will experience at the same time.
But the company went further than the usual driving and shooting, showing a sequel to a beautiful platform game Ori and the Blind Forest, a skateboarding game called Session, an exploration game about a tiny fox, a new game from the developers of Dark Souls names Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a game about a boy who pretends to be a superhero, Disney-themed Japanese role-playing game Kingdom Hearts, and several other games that broaden the Xbox One’s line-up.
Microsoft has also bought or established five new game studios, a huge investment in new creative talent. UK developers Ninja Theory (makers of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice) and Playground Games (of Forza Horizon) are both now Microsoft studios. It has also acquired Undead Labs and Compulsion Games, and established a new studio in Santa Monica called The Initiative.
There were first looks at some anticipated games from other developers. Bethesda showed a first trailer for Fallout 76, set in the immediate aftermath of nuclear war. Ubisoft’s The Division 2 has players protecting the populace of a ruined Washington DC after a pandemic destroys the US population. Dying Light 2 is a zombie survival game that builds a better story based on choice and consequence on top of the gore and terror of the first game in the series. Impossibly stylish demon-slaying action game Devil May Cry, from Capcom, returned after a 10-year absence. And Jump Force, from Bandai-Namco, pits anime stars against each other in a colourful fighting game. Cyberpunk 2077, from the developers of The Witcher 3, was also shown for the first time.
Commenter Amanbro asks:
“Is it too much to ask for companies to show actual live gameplay? That’s the main thing I’m interested in.”
That press conference was especially heavy on cinematic trailers, wasn’t it? Apart from those five-minute looks at The Division 2, Forza Horizon and Dying Light, I’m not sure we saw anyone actually play something on that stage.
Then again, when you’ve got 50 games to cram into 90 minutes, there’s not a great deal of time to show how something actually plays.
Our correspondent Keith is still at the Microsoft theatre - he’ll be hopping in with some opinions on some of these new announcements once he gets his hands on a controller.
Xbox One has been trailing the PlayStation 4 both in terms of sales and creativity for the past few years, so Microsoft really needed a strong showing at E3 this year to show it wasn’t out of ideas. I didn’t see anything particularly left-field today - E3 is always dominated by the most expensive and popular games around, so that’s no surprise - but I did see a broad spread of fun and interesting-looking things, and a lot of investment in talent. Phil Spencer has done a lot to turn the Xbox division around. Keith will be interviewing him later - look out for some quotes.
That last-minute glimpse of Cyberpunk 2077 was a good closer, too, though inevitably I want to see what the game actually looks like when you’re playing it. Very much hoping that it will be shown in greater detail later this week.
Can we talk about Devil May Cry 5? It’s great to see the series back with Capcom for the first time in 10 years, but I’m also slightly sad to see 2013’s DmC airburshed from history. Its storytelling was brilliant and Dante had never been sexier.
Now that its developer Ninja Theory is owned my Microsoft I doubt we’ll ever see another Devil May Cry in that style. Here’s the trailer for Devil May Cry 5:
Loads more trailers turning up on YouTube now from the conference. Here are a few that got a bit lost in the shuffle during the main show:
Session, a new skateboarding game:
And Tunic, a game about a tiny fox exploring a big world:
Bethesda’s press conference starts in a few hours - we can expect that to be very Fallout-focussed, after that teaser trailer shown at the Microsoft conference. In the meantime, stay with us for some analysis, and some reactions to that Xbox showcase.
That’s it for Microsoft’s press conference. That was a very impressive number of new games, with more variety than Xbox has shown in some years - it will be a while before that massive investment in new development studios pays off, and a lot of what we saw there will be out in 2019 or even later, but I’m nonetheless encouraged to see an Xbox lineup that moves beyond driving and shooting with confidence.
A final stunt before the end, though: a trailer for Cyberpunk 2077, a new game from the makers of The Witcher 3. This is the first we’ve ever seen of it. I’ll drop that trailer in as soon as it’s available - it showed an unexpectedly colourful city full of cyborgs.
Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, is back out on stage to close the conference, heading off rumours at the pass by saying that Microsoft is working on its new generation of Xbox consoles - I wouldn’t be surprised if we see those consoles next year, but it could even be 2020.
Here’s a trailer for Gears 5, showing an encouraging character-focussed direction:
Gears 5 got a predictable boisterous welcome from the crowd - just about equalling Battletoads immediately before it.
Microsoft announces three new Gears of War games
- Gears Pop! is a mobile game based on Funko Pop toys
- Gears Tactics is a PC strategy game
- Gears 5 is a shooter for Xbox One
A third new Gears of War game (the rumours were true!): Gears of War 5, the one that everyone was really waiting for. The main character is Kait Diaz - a female star is a first for the series.
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