Microsoft’s E3 2018 Press Conference Recap
The second press conference for 2018’s E3 week was held by none other than Microsoft. The gaming giant has had fewer leaks than any of the other publishers and developers. Some were taking that as a bad sign that they simply didn’t have anything to leak. Now that the conference is over, was there any truth to that thought? You can hear Scott, Bob, and Chris. B. discuss their impressions of the much-anticipated event during our latest episode.
You can hear Scott, Bob, and Chris. B. discuss their impressions of the much-anticipated event during our latest episode.
If you prefer the written word over audio, you’ll find a recap of everything shown at the conference below. There’s even links for every trailer shown during the presser.
Halo: Infinite
We didn’t get to see much here, but Microsoft came out the gate swinging with the official title of the next game featuring Master Chief: Halo Infinite. They’ve ditched the Bunjie engine and are going with a new one called Slipspace Engine. No word on a release date at all.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
The sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest is called Ori and the Will of the Wisps. It looks even more gorgeous than the last game, with music that complements the visuals beautifully.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
We all were expecting a new game from developer From Software; however, we didn’t expect this. Set in some samurai world, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice looks to be even more action-packed than Dark Souls and Bloodborne. This one releases sometime in 2019.
Fallout 76
Todd Howard took the stage to introduce the latest trailer for “Fallout 76”. It takes place in West Virginia and is a prequel to all the other games. It also boasts a world four times the size of Fallout 4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k6ftcg0TXw
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
Dontnod, who is most known for the Life Is Strange series, has a new game called The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. This one centers around a young boy’s imagination and looks to be full of whimsy. The best news is that the game will be free on June 26th.
Crackdown 3
Although it’s a bummer that this game has been pushed back yet again till next year, it still looks like a ton of fun. The new trailer features Terry Crews again, and they gave the official release window of February of 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74jviPFQ66U
Nier Automata – Become as Gods Edition
Nier: Automata has been a PS4 exclusive up to this point, but not anymore. The “Become as Gods Edition” will release on Xbox One on June 26th of this year.
Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus debuted at last year’s E3, but we’re getting a much closer look at the game, including in-game footage. Look forward to this one releasing on 2/22/19.
Kingdom Hearts 3
One of the bigger surprises from the press conference was the announcement that Kingdom Hearts 3 will also be releasing on the Xbox One. This is the first time this series has been on a Microsoft console. We saw a new trailer featuring several Disney characters including Elsa from Frozen, Rapunzel from Tangled, and an unnamed female antagonist. The game releases sometime in January 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHuuKlHGrH8
Sea of Thieves: Curse Sails & Forsaken Shores
Next up was a reveal of two expansions for Sea of Thieves, called Curse Sails and Forsaken Shores. They release in July and September respectively.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZz7lju5cR4
Battlefield V
We saw a trailer for Battlefield V yesterday at EA’s Press Conference. The same trailer was shown at Microsoft’s press conference, but you can watch it again here.
Forza Horizon 4
Despite Wal-Mart telling us that we were getting a fifth game in the Forza Horizon series, Microsoft officially showed us a trailer for Forza Horizon 4. This one is set in Britain and releases on October 2nd. It will also be available on Game Pass on the same date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKoM67TkUWI
New Studios
Phil Spencer announced five new studios joining Microsoft Studios. They include The Initiative, Playground Games, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion Studios. This was received with a lot of positive reaction from the crowd.
We Happy Few
Although the game has been in early access for quite a while, We Happy Few has a new trailer and a console release date of August 10th, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuLcsB7VUSE
New Player Unknown’s BattleGrounds
This isn’t huge news, but we saw another look at Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds new may, which officially releases winter 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WtelAHix64
Tales of Vesperia
This game was originally released in 2008 for the Xbox 360. Bandai Namco is rereleasing it on the Xbox One this winter. JRPG’s are still alive!
The Division 2
This was one of the few games that was leaked from Microsoft. Not only were we given a reveal trailer, but also a lengthy gameplay demo. No word on a release date, but you can sign up for beta today.
“Fast Start” & Xbox Game Pass
Ashley Speicher from Microsoft took the stage and explained that hardware upgrades will be soon available that allows players to start their games much faster than before. She claimed that the new tech is based on how gamers play and will launch in the June update for select titles.
She also announced that The Division, Fallout 4, and Elder Scrolls Online Tamriel are all available today on Game Pass and offer an upgrade to 4K.
ID@Xbox Montage
The next portion of the show revealed a ton of indie titles coming to the Xbox One. There are simply too many to list here. You can check out the full list in the trailer below.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Microsoft also unveiled a new trailer for Shadow of the the Tomb Raider, which releases on September 14th, 2018. There’s not much more to say about this one. Just watch the trailer and bask in its beauty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc87fg-RuJQ
Session
Although several people were disappointed that EA didn’t reveal a trailer for Skate 4 yesterday, many were surprised to see a new skating game called Session. This was a very short trailer will very little information, however, it looks solid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HDk8fBz-Ck
Black Desert
MMORPG’s are difficult to translate to console, but Microsoft seems up to the challenge. The trailer for Black Desert looks stunning, but we still have a lot to learn about this new intellectual property.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMplC8YVrEs
Devil May Cry 5
One of the bigger surprises from this press conference was the reveal of Devil May Cry 5 from Capcom. It’s been ten years since the last game in the series, but you can expect this one to drop spring of 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ9rbZf9x2I
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
Even though the first Cuphead came out less than a year ago, we’re already getting DLC. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course has a new playable character name Ms. Chalice and offers the same beautiful hand-drawn animation we loved from the core game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N0Aeas1PvQ
Tunic
Very little was said about this charming title, but it reminded me a lot of The Legend Zelda sprinkled with a dash of Monument Valley. You play as a fox with a sword, and that’s about all we know at this point.
Jump Force
Jump Force looks like an anime version of Capcom vs. Street Fighter. It combined characters from the Naruto, Dragonball Z, One Piece, and Death Note franchises. Look for this one in 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9OKYkqqJkg
Dying Light 2
The sequel to the original Dying Light looks to be an open-world choose-your-own-adventure style of game. We saw both a reveal trailer and an extended gameplay trailer.
Reveal Trailer
Gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZ2MZQlUZ4&feature=youtu.be
Battletoads
Believe it or not, we’re getting a new Battletoads game in 2019. Although we saw no gameplay, the tongue-in-cheek trailer promised 3-player couch co-op and loads of humor. We can’t wait for more info on this title!
Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4 was another title that was leaked before the press conference, but we do not have an official trailer and a release date of December 4th of this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCCrG4pdhrM
Gears Pop! & Gears 5
Rod Ferguson decided it was a good idea to give all of us a heart attack during the press conference when he revealed Gears Pop! While many of us were not very interested in that, he did also talk about a new strategic turn-based game in the Gears universe called Gears Tactics.
Gears 5
This was the news that everybody really wanted, however. Gear 5 is officially happening, and we have a gorgeous new trailer for the game that releases sometime in 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq3gRSTIRDI
Cyberpunk 2077
Phil Spencer acted like the press conference was over, but surprised us with a trailer for CD Projekt Red‘s Cyberpunk 2077. The trailer looks very interesting but seemed like an odd way to end the show.
And that’s it for this year’s press conference from Microsoft. Phil Spencer did hint at the possibility of the next generation of consoles but was very vague. All in all, it was a very strong showing, and we can’t wait to see more of these games in action over the next few days.
