Alex Birlo on June 14, 2019
On Sunday, June 9-th Microsoft had their big annual press conference at E3, where they showcased 60 games – even if almost all of them were indie games – and revealed their next console “Scarlett”.
Let us go through these announcements quickly about the smaller games and more in-depth regarding the bigger things like the new Halo Cinematic and the console reveal.
The conference started with a nice story and choice themed trailer of “The Outer Worlds”, a game developed by Obsidian Entertainment, an RPG that is obviously challenging the core pillars of the “Fallout” series and is extremely anticipated. It will release on October 25, 2019.
Link for the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5LaYTtIkag&has_verified=1
Then followed a world premiere of a new first-party game for Xbox from Ninja theory “Bleeding Edge”. A 4v4 competitive multiplayer game. You fight for 3 control points during the match and it looks kind of like their own spin on Overwatch with a very wild character design that definitely makes the characters stand out. It will have a technical Alpha that starts in June.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_0M0ZraGMw
Then it was “Ori and the Will of the Wisps” – a 2D action platformer, with gorgeous art style and music. Releases February 11, 2020.
Another big announcement was the “Minecraft Dungeons” game, from the creators of the original game we all know. I will be a 4-player co-op, top-down, dungeon crawler. Imagine a spinoff of Minecraft that looked like Diablo, that is exactly what it is. The game will have both online and local co-op and will be releasing in Spring 2020.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=076mjMOL6R8
Next, we had another nice story trailer for the upcoming “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen order” game. And a world premiere of the next horror game from the creators of “Layers of Fear”, the new game will be a new original story inspired by the classic “Blair Witch Project” from 1999. It is a survival horror game, that would instantly give anyone the “Outlast” vibe – dark forest, occult themes, and a dude with nothing but a camera that runs out of batteries. It releases on Xbox One and PC on August 30, 2019.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wWkQXUMQYI
A brilliant addition to the show was a cinematic trailer for “Cyberpunk 2077” starring Keanu Reeves. It came as a big surprise that now he as well will be a part of the futuristic world in the next game from CD Project Red. Keanu Reeves also went on stage to tell us about the game, show us yet another trailer but this time with a release date! Finally, we know that Cyberpunk 2077 will release on April 16-th 2020.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIcTM8WXFjk&has_verified=1
And then began a rapid-fire presentation of the many, many indie games coming to Xbox and PC:
“Spirit Farer” – a management game about dying, as the developers called it.
“Battle Toads” rebooting the old franchise from 1991.
a lovely drawn adventure “Rigtime! The Legend of Wright”.
“Dead Static Drive” – a game about driving through a fictional 60s-70s America and surviving a horror-filled game world.
“Pathologic 2” – open world survival thriller, “Star Renegades” – a tactical rogue-like RPG.
“Afterparty” – an adventure game about to best friends that have to outdrink Satan to return back to life.
“TABS: Totally Accurate Battle Simulator” – a game that is an absolutely hilarious opposite to its actual name.
“The Good Life” – a game combining genres: part tycoon, part time-management, part simulation.
“Cross Code” – a retro 2D action RPG, “Creature in the Well” – an interesting pinball-inspired hack and slash game.
“Killer Queen Black” – a multiplayer action/strategy platformer for up to eight players.
“Riverbond” – a dungeon crawler they called ‘shoot-and-slash’.
“Unto the End” – a 2D cinematic combat-adventure.
“Blazing Chrome” – an old-school inspired run’n’gun with a two players co-op.
“Felix the Reaper” – described as a romantic comedy game about the life of death.
“UnderMine” – an action-adventure rogue-like game.
“Supermarket S.H.R.I.E.K.” – a ‘shopping kart’ racer about a man and a goat.
“Secret Neighbor” – is an asymmetric multiplayer spin-off of the game “Hello Neighbor”.
“Ikenfell” – a turn-based tactical RPG about magic students.
“the Lord of the Rings living card game” – pretty self-explanatory.
“Night Call” – a murder mystery noire game with awesome art style.
“Totem Teller” – a game about storytelling and discovery where all the visuals look like a glitched-out screen.
Next was a presentation about the already announced release of Xbox Game Pass on PC and that all the previously mentioned games are going to be part of that pass day one. Also, they announced that they are having now a new premium subscription called Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for 15 USD. It includes Xbox Game Pass both on console and PC – since they are going to be treated as separate subscriptions and managed separately as well – and the Xbox Live Gold.
Another world premiere followed. A game called “Flight Simulator” from their popular Simulator franchise. The game will be powered by satellite data and the AZURE AI, so expect some incredible detail and realistic simulation of flight physics, weather, and controls.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDDgFfWlS4
All strategy fans also have something to be excited about, because they are bringing back the classic strategy game from our past “Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition” the same experience we knew and loved, but with improved sound, 4K and a completely new campaign “The Last Khans”. Comes out this fall.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOgBVR21pWg
Then we received a big world-building trailer for “Wasteland 3”, god we have waited for this game for so long! We got to see some more of the post-apocalyptic Colorado, some of the weapons and enemies we will be facing.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBzb9hkTvYA
Another welcomed and adorable addition to the conference and the Xbox games library was a story trailer for the Double Fine’s next game “Psychonauts 2”. It is a continuation, starting where “Psychonauts: in the Rhombus of Ruin” ended. A third-person platformer with fun design and plot that will take you on a wild adventure across weird, weird lands as evident from the trailer.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV3LGhgDQbc
Next up was more Star Wars! A new Star Wars Lego game titled “The Skywalker Saga” will reimagine all the previous games, will include all nine episodes in one. Will release somewhere in 2020.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQzaHi0CwRQ
A trailer for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot was also dropped. A game where yet again we will be able to relive the story of Goku, but with a more RPG twist to it. Except for the epic battles, you will be able to explore new areas, fish, eat and train. With sounds great to be honest! The game comes out Early 2020.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi81IEg69Ow
The world premiere of “12 Minutes” was next and it was my personal favorite among the smaller titles. It is a thriller about a man trapped in a time loop, where his wife gets either kidnapped or murdered by the end, no matter what he does differently. Seems interesting, but no exact release date, just said it is coming soon.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDgxXMK1r-E&has_verified=1
After that, we saw a trailer for a game called “Way to the Woods” that somehow gave me the Hayao Miyazaki vibes. It first surfaced back in 2015 and was made by Anthony Tan while still in school. Now he managed to arrange a publishing deal and made crazy progress on the game. From what we have seen, it is going to be an adventure game about two deer that travel through a dilapidated environment reminiscent of Japan in some ways. The countryside, the forest, the city, and its subway network will be some of the areas. It releases in 2020.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDjbZyvvyu0
Next was a big game that everyone were waiting for – “Gears 5”. We received some trailers and most interesting was the info about a new game mode, it is called “Escape”. In this mode, you will play as a squad of hive-busters that have to infiltrate a hive, plant a bomb of deadly toxin and escape the hive, without dying from it yourself. Then they announced a DLC coming to the game and it will be themed after the Terminator Dark Fate movie. The game will come out on September 10-th 2019.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErqsgG0HRR8&has_verified=1
After Gears Microsoft demonstrated its new Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2. It is an incredibly customizable controller that allows you to adjust the tension of the thumbsticks, you have licks under the triggers allowing you to customize how deep you need to press them in order to make the shot, more thumbsticks and paddle variants for your taste, it also allows you to preset up to 3 custom profiles of settings for the controller, to instantly switch between them depending on the functionality you require and it has a powerful new battery that lasts up to 40 hours per charge! It is now available for pre-order on the official Xbox website.
Another thing that was personally exciting for me was the story trailer for “Dying Light 2” that followed. As a fan of the previous game I was excited to get more information on that game, so just go and check out the trailer for yourself, I will not go into too many details here besides the fact that apparently the character we play is infected and has a timer on his hand that denotes how long he has until he turns – that is a nice twist. The game will come out in spring 2020.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1_7wjuzqwI
Following that, the team behind Forza announced an upcoming major expansion with content all themed around Lego! New areas made out of destructible Lego pieces and new cars made all out of Lego – the theme in the background was catchy as hell. The expansion is actually already became available on June 13.
Then was a less exciting trailer for the previously announced mobile spinoff of Gears of War – Gears Pop! Will be soon released and apparently available for preorder?
“State of Decay 2” is also getting a huge expansion called “Heartland”. It includes two new storylines and new enemies. And it is already available.
Also “Phantasy Star Online 2” will be making its way to Xbox in spring 2020 one of the biggest Japanese MMORPGs, a ‘cult classic’ so to say, but it was never released in the west and now that SEGA is partnering up with Microsoft, after 7 years they will finally bring it to the west!
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7aNatPKWRY
Later Phil Spencer came out to say a couple of words about their partnership with the guys at Smilegate studio, that will bring to the Xbox “Crossfire X”. A multiplayer first-person shooter, with the popular scenario of two teams competing against each other in objective-based matches. This will be the first time a “Crossfire” game will come out on console and this got a bunch of us people really excited!
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq-wlu2pwdw
The next game is probably my favorite of the whole show. It is a beautiful game from Bandai Namco called “Tales of Arise”. Another game from the “Tales” series, being a JRPG is aiming for better visual esthetics and more immersive gameplay, attempting to set a record for the franchise. We can expect the game to release some time in 2020.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltVgvd-Me6A
And of course, we got a new trailer for Borderlands 3. Which showed more of the new weapons, characters, the world, and its realities. And a pleasant surprise was waiting at the end – it was announced that they are releasing an absolutely new adventure for Borderlands 2 called “Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary” which I guess somehow sets up the stage for Lilith’s character in “Borderlands 3”. The game will be releasing on September 13-th 2019.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTnYksXt7Xg
The next announcement had blown people away, as we have finally got a glimpse at the new game that is being made in collaboration between the author of “Game of Thrones” George RR Martin and the creator of “Dark Souls” Hidetaka Miyazaki. It is called “Elden Ring”. All we know so far about the game and its tone is that it will remain as tough of a challenge as the previous games of “FromSoftware” but this time it will be a fantasy open-world, focusing on more of the RPG elements.
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4euIi1JfMqs
Then Phil Spencer came out later to talk about the project Xcloud. It is Microsoft’s streaming solution enabling ambitious streaming capabilities. He talked about a feature they call ‘Console Streaming’ it enables your Xbox console to act as a free, personal Xcloud server. You can either use a console on the Microsoft servers of your own Xbox and stream your games on the go. This feature will be available this October.
And of course, the huge announcement that all have waited for – their new Xbox. They will be focusing on speed and performance. It will feature a custom-designed processor using the Zen 2 and NAVI technology from AMD. They claim that this console will be around 4 times more powerful than even the “Xbox One X”. It will be capable of outputting up to a 120 fps, 8K resolution, variable refresh rate and next-gen raytracing in real time. They call the new console “Scarlett” and it was also stated that over a hundred partners are already developing next-gen content based on that new console’s capabilities. And it will be released during the holiday season of 2020.
The conference ended with a bang! Phil Spencer announced that next holiday season they will release Scarlett with the new “Halo Infinite”. And we got to finally witness at least a cinematic trailer that did not show much, except for the fact that chief is back!
Link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtgzKBrU1GY
This years Microsoft E3 Conference was packed with good games and important new announcement. And it is a continuation of their previous years tactic of leading the show:
