Great expectations - PTC's E3 2017 predictions

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Going into an event like E3, there's always a lot of anticipation. Will the latest console release be everything it's cracked up to be? Will that long-rumoured game finally be confirmed? Who will be the awkward celebrity cameo?

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​by James Michael Parry

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​Team
​PTC

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​@james_parry

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Over the years we've seen numerous console reveals and plenty of good humour between games companies (who could forget Sony's state-of-the-art game sharing system? Or Nintendo's muppet video?), and there's plenty on the cards for this year, with all the big players you'd expect turning up to show their wares.

​​Xbox

​Microsoft is definitely the company with the most to prove at this year's event. Project Scorpio was mentioned but not really revealed at the last E3 and with significant momentum still behind the PS4 in terms of sales, Microsoft needs to hit the mark with this one

We saw a bit more of Scorpio a couple of months ago with Digital Foundry's excellent video running through the specs in some significant detail, after Microsoft let them take a very close look at the machine. It seems to have the power, but what it really needs is games.

Liam is slightly concerned about is Scorpio's price too, in fact, Gabriella reckons if the price is anything more than £499 she'll be "pissed" (eep!), so Microsoft had better come up with "some new Xbox exclusives or a good hard-hitting lineup of Scorpio games" to keep her from lashing out at us.

On that front, Rob is excited about the prospect of Crackdown 3 at long last, adding: "I'm curious to see more of Sea of Thieves too, I really hope it's a return to form for Rare."

Both Liam and Chris are excited at the prospect of VR on the Scorpio. "I'm expecting it will be more than I'm willing to pay," explains Chris. "As the only reason for me to upgrade is some sort of VR, which will bump the price up further."

"I imagine things have been quiet on the Xbox exclusive front for a while because they've been pumping their resources into bolstering the Scorpio launch," ponders Sam. "Which is exactly what we saw happen in the transition from 360 to One. It would be a welcome surprise to hear news that Fable 4 is at least planned but I think Rare are best suited to taking it on and they probably have their hands full."

​Playstation

​Sony are riding high on a sea of sales, reportedly double what the Xbox One has managed to shift, and coming off a notable performance at last year's conference.

When you're at the top though, everyone is very keen to see you fall, so Sony will still have to keep their wits about them. The impressive lineup of games shown last year has more to offer, with not much seen nor heard from Days Gone or God of War since 2016, though the sting of Hideo Kojima announcing in Twitter that he won't be bringing Death Stranding to the show will have already disappointed many fans.

Resident young person and PS4 fan has a long list of wants for the event. "I’m looking forward to seeing more God of War and hopefully The Last of Us: Part II," she says. "Other games on my radar are Detroit: Become Human and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, so hopefully we’ll get to see some meaty coverage on all of these. Some strong PS VR titles wouldn’t go amiss either."

After it set the internet alight in 2015, Rob is hankering for more Ryo. "Will Shenmue 3 get a new reveal - it's been ages and I'm gagging to learn more!" he says. "What have Sony got up their sleeves? Like Gabriella I'm hoping for gameplay footage of The Last of Us: Part II - it's probably too early but we can hope!"

Sony have stuck to their usual timeslot, while Microsoft have moved theirs forward to the Sunday night (for us in the UK that is - you can remind yourself of the schedule with our guide), which Sam predicts could lead to an upset. "I'm worried Microsoft might have shot themselves in the foot," he says. "We've seen in the past, Sony can be very reactive, and they have more than 24 hours to plan a counter this time around. Xbox doesn't need to be made the industry laughing stock again."

​Them's fighting words...

​Nintendo

​Ever the oddball, Nintendo will be settling for their Treehouse Live event this year rather than a Nintendo Direct or traditional conference. Their stock is at its highest point since 2010 thanks to tremendous demand for their new console - The Switch - and their games line-up for the system is finally starting to shape up too.

​Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe were both big hits, and must-buys for Switch owners, but ARMS is the next high-profile release and despite making a good first impression with Liam and James recently, doesn't feel like it has quite the same system-selling potential - perhaps Pokkén Tournament will be the next title to hit that particular note?

Nintendo may be performing, but fans are still baffled by many of their decisions. First they stopped producing the NES Classic, and now the Switch's online service, which was recently pushed to 2018, expects players to jump through hoops just to use a simple feature like voice chat, but maybe seeing the service in action will allay fears.

Rob has high standards set for the Japanese company. "Will Nintendo actually give us something new?" he wonders. "I don't just want to see more of Odyssey!" While Sam is just hoping that they won't disappoint, as his Switch is "currently gathering dust."

Liam is more optimistic though. "I'd like to be surprised by Nintendo," he says "Maybe something about GameCube virtual console and a proper Pokémon game for the Switch."

​EA

​First off the mark thanks to their EA Play event taking place outside E3 proper, Electronic Arts have a few high profile games on their slate which may well find their way into the Sony and Microsoft briefings as well.

Star Wars: Battlefront II is undoubtedly the top of fans anticipation list out of those. Many lamented the original's lack of single-player campaign, something developer DICE has addressed for the sequel, putting you into the boots of an imperial officer.

If EA means one thing - aside from being the twice-voted 'Worst Company in America' - it's sports. Recent announcements ahead of the event have confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo as the cover star for Fifa 18, as well as Madden NFL 18 and NBA Live 18.

Finally expected to appear is Need For Speed Payback, which takes the franchise and (figuratively) injects some of the nitrous oxide of the Fast and Furious franchise.

​The Force is strong with Star Wars ahead of the show. "I'd like some info about Battlefront II's single-player campaign and the other Star Wars games they are working on," says Chris.​

​Bethesda

​As a company famed for taking their time, the rumours can really get out of hand when you start talking about Bethesda, and the latest is that the next Elder Scrolls will be in space...so...there that is.

The big game of the show that we do know about will be Quake Champions, announced at last year's event, though by now work on Elder scrolls VI must be underway, so we could be in for a very, very minimalist tease for that one, similar to the first we saw for its predecessor.

A leak today names the sequel to the very successful Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Old Blood titles as Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, so it's highly likely we'll see something from that if it is true.

​Ubisoft

​Always guaranteed to bring the fun, Ubisoft can often be the highlight of the show when it comes to entertainment. Game developers will be presenting instead of usual host Aisha Tyler, which may make it harder to keep the fun levels up, but hopefully it's because there's just so many good games to talk about that.

Assassin's Creed has been rumoured for a while and absent since Syndicate was released way back in 2015. The new title is expected to be set in Egypt and may or may not be subtitled Origins. After a prolonged absence you can expect Ubisoft to want to make a big splash with this one, and it appears first (simply as Assassin's Creed) on the publisher's website.

Far Cry 5 was announced recently, to get ahead of the E3 buzz, and will be set in America this time, so we can be fairly confident that we'll see some gameplay from that.

Also expected to appear are South Park: The Fractured But Whole, which was finally given a release date of 17 October after multiple delays, and The Crew 2, the follow-up to the fairly standard racing title.

​And the rest

​Activision are the biggest name not to have their own show, but they will definitely be appearing. They have a couple of tiny little games in their back pocket you might have heard of - Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: WWII.

For the former, the synopsis of the story sets up a change of tac from the previous title, as the Guardians are expelled from the tower and forced to build up their arsenal from scratch. That said, the gameplay which is already out there looks very similar to the first game, albeit with some noticeable tweaks, so those interested will likely already be tuned in to this title.

The Call of Duty series on the other hand is one where many gamers have been turned off for years, so the publisher are hoping that a return to the era which the game began with all those years ago will provide a breath of fresh air.

Since Sony have been their most recent pals, you can expect both titles to make an appearance in the Sony conference.

Elsewhere, Epic games has re-announced Fortnite, a tongue-in-cheek style title originally mentioned back in 2011, with shades of Sunset Overdrive which sees players cooperating to build forts and hold back zombie-like Husks.

The gameplay looks like a mixture between Team Fortress and Plants vs Zombies, though so far it's not clear how much variety there will be. The strength seems to be that the fortifications you come up with are extremely flexible, and the levels are procedurally generated to keep things unpredictable.

​When it comes to PC, there's due to be a major announcement from Firaxis Games and 2K - the people behind the XCOM and Civilisation series - and more information on PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, BattleTech and Wargroove.

There'll be many many more games revealed, announced and picked apart over the next few days, so make sure you are tuned in. We'll be updating our guide to E3 with videos of the press conferences once they are finished, so if you miss one you can easily catch up, plus you'll find the complete schedule. Don't forget to chat away in the comments and in our forums and hopefully we'll see you soon.