E3 2018: the big announcements from Microsoft, Bethesda and EA

From The Elder Scrolls VI to Forza Horizon
4, the latest games are unveiled in LA

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The games show, which runs until 14 June, attracts companies
from across the industry, ranging from console manufacturers to
small indie studios. 

So far, Bethesda Game Studios and Electronic Arts (EA)
have showcased their latest titles at the expo, while Microsoft
debuted a number of first and third-party games during its
conference yesterday evening. 

There are still big announcements to come from Sony and
Nintendo, both of which are due to take the stage over the next two
days. 

Here’s a breakdown of all the major announcements from E3 so
far:  

Microsoft 

Microsoft’s lack of exclusive games and first-party developers
has put the company on the back foot in the consoles wars against
Sony, says Wired. 

The company therefore needed a stellar showcase of games at E3
to “restore industry and player confidence in the brand”, the
website argues. Thankfully for Microsoft, it did. 

Around 50 titles were revealed during the conference, says
CNet, including Just Cause 4,
Devil May Cry 5 and the eagerly awaited Cyberpunk
2077 from The Witcher developer CD Projekt
Red. 

There were also a number of titles that will be available
only on Xbox One consoles and Microsoft PCs, such as Halo
Infinite, Gears of War 5 and Forza Horizon
4. The company also confirmed that it had partnered with five
game studios that will develop titles that will be playable only on
Microsoft systems. 

Added to that, Xbox chief Phil Spencer announced that
Microsoft is now developing a successor to the Xbox One, but he
didn’t reveal when it will arrive or how powerful it might
be.

Bethesda

One of the most talked-about games heading into E3 was
Bethesda Game Studio’s latest entry in its post-apocalyptic
franchise: Fallout 76.

Studio chief Todd Howard confirmed that the new game takes
the series in a different direction to the older single-player
titles, as Fallout 76 takes the form of an “entirely
online” multiplayer role-playing game (RPG) with survival
mechanics. 

The game is set to release on 14 November for PlayStation
4, Xbox One and PC.

Other titles announced during Bethesda’s showcase include
fantasy RPG The Elder Scrolls VI, says Polygon, along with new entries into the
Doom, Rage and Wolfenstein
franchises. 

And the company announced that it is working on its first
all-new game in 25 years, says Ars Technica. The game, called
Starfield, will be a single-player title and is expected
to be set in outer space. 

EA

EA announced most of its key titles ahead of E3, but that
didn’t stop the company from revealing more information about some
of the games it’s working on. 

The first gameplay trailer for Anthem, developed by
Mass Effect creators BioWare, made its debut during EA’s
conference on Saturday, The Verge reports. Little is known
about Anthem, which launches on 22 February 2019, although
the trailer suggests it will feature a deep sci-fi world full of
detail and have a similar multiplayer gameplay elements to Bungie’s
Destiny 2. 

There was also a host of announcements for EA’s Star
Wars games, the website says, including an all-new title
called Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The game is set after
the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and is slated
to arrive at the end of 2019.

Star Wars Battlefront II is also getting a number of
updates over the coming months. According to Gamespot, the multiplayer shooter is getting
new maps and characters from the prequel trilogy of movies, while
larger scale skirmishes and additional space battle modes are set
to appear in the summer.