Bethesda E3 2019 Press Conference Recap
The second major press conference from E3 2019 came from Bethesda Softworks. This has become one of our more anticipated pressers over the past five years. This year’s offering definitely had some interesting info, so let’s dive right in and see what they have to offer.
Elder Scrolls Blades Coming to Switch
We discussed Elder Scrolls Blades, the free-to-play mobile game based on the popular series back on Ep 241. Although we weren’t too excited about what we played, it’s nice to see this game come to another platform. The game releases on the Nintendo Switch this fall for the same low price of zero dollars. Here’s the trailer showing the game on the popular handheld system.
Fallout 76 Updates
Todd Howard took the stage and fully admitted to the technical difficulties of Fallout 76‘s launch. With that said, he and the rest of the team seem to be trying very hard to make good on their original promise. For starters, the game has two new updates called “Wastelanders” and “Nuclear Winter”. The former includes human NPC and full dialogue trees, and is available for free to all Fallout 76 players. The latter is a 52-player battle royale mode, and is free to try on all platforms. You can see the trailers for both below.
Ghostwire: Tokyo
We held our collective breath as Shinji Mikami took the stage to announce his next game. Surprisingly, it wasn’t another The Evil Within game, but a new IP called Ghostwire Tokyo. The trailer, which can be seen below, is a bit vague, but appears to be an action-adventure game where you fight paranormal activities. Adding a katana to the mix definitely piqued our interest.
Elder Scrolls Online Update
Although we already knew about the next update for The Elder Scrolls Online, called “Elsweyr”, we got a chance to see a lengthy cinematic trailer. Much like the previous one, this video left us with a bit of a cliffhanger as well. You can watch the impressive footage below.
Commander Keen
This was probably one of the most unexpected reveals of E3 2019 thus far. Commander Keen was a series that started back in 1990 with its last iteration releasing in 2001. The latest entry to the series takes the game to iOS and Android. Very little is known at this point, but Bethesda promises a “soft release” this summer. Here’s the video they showed during the press conference.
Elder Scrolls Legends
This collectible card game released in 2017, but that’s not stopping Bethesda from show us more. We know we’re getting more content down the road based on “Elsweyr”, but that’s about it. Still, you can see the cinematic trailer to get pumped if you haven’t already downloaded this free-to-play CCG.
Rage 2 “Rise of the Ghosts” Update
Despite a rather lukewarm reception for Rage 2 (including a review from one of our contributing writers), Bethesda seems to be jumping in with both feet on this game. Their update trailer promises all kinds of new enemies, weapons, and mayhem complete with an 80’s style sitcom theme. You have to see it to believe it.
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot and Wolfenstein: Youngblood
One of the more anticipated games from Bethesda this year is the latest in the Wolfenstein series. As we saw last year, Wolfenstein: Youngblood puts players in the shoes of BJ’s twin daughters who are on a mission to save their father from the Nazis. You can watch the trailer below.
We were also given a glimpse of a VR game called Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Shooting down Nazis in virtual reality sounds like a lot of fun. Stay tuned for more details.
Deathloop
This is the second game after one day of conferences that features a time loop mechanic. Deathloop offers a very promising premise where two arch rivals (one male and one female) face off against each other in brutal fashion. It appears that after each death, the loser starts another loop in time. You won’t want to miss this trailer, as it is one of the more promising surprises from this press conference.
Orion Technology for Streaming Media
Streaming media is definitely the catchphrase of E3 2019, and Bethesda wasn’t going to be left out of the loop. The promise is a breakthrough in streaming technology at the game engine level, which reduces latency and lowers bandwidth by 40%. Streaming games will be faster and better, according to Bethesda. You can stream your game at max settings, even if you’re not near a data center.
The best part of this presentation was seeing a player run 2016’s Doom on a smartphone with no visible latency issues. It was quite a sight to see. Players can try the game via Orion tonight by signing up at slayersclub.com. Color us intrigued.
Doom Eternal
We saw a peek of Doom Eternal at last year’s press conference, but Bethesda had much more to show this time around. The latest entry in the Doomslayer’s story looks to be even more frenetic than the last, which is an impressive feat. There appears to be a new mode of play that feels very arcade-like, which is very welcome. We also saw a new multiplayer mode called “Battlemode” where two demon players face off against a single Doomslayer. The game releases on November 22nd, which gives Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order some hefty competition. You can see the trailer for Doom Eternal below.
And that’s everything from Bethesda for this year’s E3 conference. We have quite a bit to be excited about, and are eagerly anticipating multiple games from this offering.
Stay tuned for more recaps from Square Enix and Ubisoft tomorrow. Also, be sure to check out our coverage of the EA Play conference and Microsoft’s E3 2019 Briefing as well.
