Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Marshall McLuhan – three revolutionary futurists who predicted the state of the world many decades before it would become harsh reality. Here at WellPlayed we’re channelling those greats and trying to predict what will happen a few days from now at this year’s E3. So strap on your anti-grav boots and jump on your hover board – the future is now. We’ll not only give you our moderately educated opinion on what we predict to come to pass, but in the spirit of Big Lil’ Rizky we’ll also give out for free the things we 100% know will happen that might surprise you. #callingit
We are going to see The Last of Us Part II in some capacity. Sony has made it clear that this year we are not going to see hardware – so it makes sense to drop some mad game news. Maybe a release date? Maybe a co-op mode where you and a friend need to sort through a box of coloured hats? Genuinely it could be anything, we all know it will be worth it.
Still talking Sony, Death Stranding is super likely to show up. The game intrigues me, even if Kojima seems to only exist to confuse me. What we have seen of the game so far has raised more questions than it has answered, so maybe we will see a proper section of gameplay footage? Could such a thing exist?
#callingit
Spider-Man PS4 will unveil something massively amazing, and fans will be gushing in the aisle like it’s the second coming of Christ. With the release date set for September this year, surely Sony will unleash the final hype builder to lock in whatever final pre-orders they can. Maybe a Spidey PS4 Pro…?
I’ll do one prediction for each of the shows (except for EA because zzz).
Microsoft: There will be at least one Xbox console exclusive revealed that is NOT Gears of War, Forza or Halo related.
Bethesda: Bethesda will once again reveal at least one game for every platform (being PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch and VR)
Square-Enix: A new Nier game will be announced. No gameplay shown.
Ubisoft: Splinter Cell seems like a sure thing at this point right?
Sony: One new remake (in the vein of Shadow of the Colossus) will be revealed as a PS4 exclusive.
#callingit
Microsoft will have the most new game reveals at their conference (this includes third-party multiplatform titles) while Sony will have the least.
There sure has been a lot of leaks leading up to this year’s E3, so it’s easy to assume that there won’t be many surprises left. That said, there a few things that I can only fathom will come up in some capacity. For one, I half expect Nintendo to announce plans to expand on Super Mario Odyssey in some way. After the stellar reception and huge sales numbers since launch, it would be super weird of the Big N to call time on the game as is.
I’m really not a driving game guy, but Forza Horizon Drift (at least that’s what I’m calling it) is a heavily rumoured title that I’m actually kinda excited about. If it’s anything like the Forza Horizon/Need for Speed Underground/Midnight Club hybrid set in Tokyo that I’m expecting it to be, I’ll definitely be on board.
Also, this one’s a long shot but since we know Bluepoint are working on another project since the incredible Shadow of the Colossus remake for PS4, and they’ve done work on Naughty Dog titles in the past, I would really really love a Jak and Daxter remake or even reboot of some kind.
#callingit
Square Enix will attempt to divert everyone’s attention away from not having anything to show of the Final Fantasy VII Remake by announcing something super cool like a new NieR game or a reboot of some old, beloved Squaresoft franchise.
Relic Entertainment have been quiet since the disastrous Dawn of War III was abandoned nearly two months ago. Company of Heroes 2 was released in 2013 but hasn’t seen a considerable update for months. Age of Empires IV simply has to make an appearance at E3. Whether it’ll be at Microsoft’s show or the PC one is the real question.
EA are coming off an enormous scandal that hasn’t left the public conscience yet. They’ll be playing E3 extremely safe this year, with lots of big franchises to shut the masses up.
I want Death Stranding to not suck. Knowing how ‘well’ Sony treats their developers, though, Kojima will get all the time and money he wants and the game will get stretched into mediocrity like The Last Guardian.
Ubisoft will do something incredibly embarrassing again and give us all a good laff.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 gets gameplay, and it’s an open-world game-as-service loot grinder that everybody hates.
Fallout gets a British spinoff in a desperate attempt to make up for Fallout 4.
Skyrim gets another port, this time for the Apple Watch.
EA makes me fall asleep and miss half of Microsoft’s conference for two years in a row.
#callingit
Nintendo wins again this year.
It definitely wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a release date The Division 2 at this year’s E3. I’m pretty sure they’ve been working quietly in the background to get it ready, and I’m ready to head back into the Dark Zone.
Another returning franchise I think we’ll see this year is TellTale’s The Wolf Among Us. The final entry into The Walking Dead is coming soon, so it’d make sense to show us what else is in the pipeline.
I also think we’ll also get a bit more information on the awesome looking BioMutant. It still has a release window of 2018, so maybe THQ Nordic and Experiment 101 will give us some new gameplay footage and a date to look forward to. My money is on December sometime.
#callingit
Nintendo will disappoint everyone by not announcing a new Pokemon game for Switch, despite all the leaks. Then they’ll do a surprise direct 2 weeks later and announce it. Also, they’ll talk about some more Labo kits on the way.
Last year my predictions were on point. Let’s see if lightning can strike twice.
Microsoft will announce two new exclusives during their showcase. One new IP and one existing IP.
Capcom will have a big say during Sony’s showcase with the Resident Evil 2 Remake to get a gameplay trailer and early 2019 release date. Then a bombshell will drop and Deep Down will get a new teaser trailer.
We’ll finally see gameplay for 505 Games’ Overkill’s The Walking Dead and Focus Home Interactive’s Call of Cthulhu.
#callingit
This year Ubisoft will announce a new Splinter Cell (finally) during Microsoft’s showcase and it’ll release before April 2019.
Predicting things is not my forte. In fact, I can barely predict what I had for breakfast this morning. Many of my past predictions have not come to be, but I figure I can’t be wrong 100% of the time, so here we go.
I predict Microsoft are going to resurrect a beloved franchise and announce it as an exclusive. I’ve always thought Jade Empire was good for another run, but given the amount of virtual pies BioWare have their digits in it feels unlikely. Two franchises ripe for the plucking though are Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. These two RPGs had somewhat mixed receptions as Xbox 360 exclusives, but you can’t throw a rock on the Internet without hitting someone who loved them. They were both developed by Japanese developer outfit Mistwalker, which is headed by none other than the creator of the Final Fantasy series, Hironobu Sakaguchi. Mistwalker seem to be doing mobile games right now, but perhaps they can be charmed away from that terribleness to make real games again. Write the cheque Microsoft.
#callingit
Neckbeards and naysayers will claim that E3 is becoming less and less relevant and will roll a d20 in a dark corner while perusing their collection of unplayed games on Steam. I will once again drag my arse out of bed at ungodly hours because E3 is gamer Christmas, and nothing will keep me from enjoying the dizzying heights and cringophonic lows that only E3 can bring.
Here are six predictions I’m not particularly confident in, but I hope to see:
Doom 2 gets announced.
Kingdom Hearts 3 release date is end of year 2018, not delayed to 2019.
Resident Evil 2 Remake is mentioned, coming early 2019.
Animal Crossing Switch does not make an appearance.
Ridley from the Metroid series is a playable character in Super Smash Bros.
#callingit
Super Smash Bros automatically wins E3 for Nintendo, whether you like it or not
What do you think we’ll see at E3 this year? What’s your sure thing? What’s your #callingit? Let us know in the comments below.
