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Like other one said the transition of TOW2 could be the same as (AC1 --> AC2) or (Red Dead Revolver --> Red Dead Redemption)
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Xbox Game Studios & Bethesda |OTXIV| Sarah Bond, From Game Pass With Love
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We Feast.
Like other one said the transition of TOW2 could be the same as (AC1 --> AC2) or (Red Dead Revolver --> Red Dead Redemption)
Goddamn I'm looking forward to playing Psychonauts 2 this year! Loved the first one and just watched a video of Rhombus of Ruin.
Wow, can't wait.
All that extra time and resources afforded by Xbox is really showing. Curious to see how the boss battles play, would like them to tough like Cuphead :)
It's that time of the year again. Many people every year ask me to do a prediction, despite me being horrible at these things. So this year I'm trying something new, looking at the situation as objectively as I can without any dreams added. At the end of the day I think that might help people with expectation management. Keep in mind this post is about first-party only, there obviously will be third-party as well. I know many people will forget about this post tomorrow and will let expectations go wild again, but hey, I'll still give it a try.
In general, I think we have to stop to look at these shows as the one definitive moment every year. The last several months have shown that Xbox can actually be pretty dominant in these "news cycles", if such a thing exists, without having any shows. I will not look at this E3 as their one main, do-or-die moment, but more so as another (albeit important) moment of many throughout this year and in the years ahead. I absolutely include myself in the criticism that the Xbox Games Showcase last year in the grand scheme of things wasn't as important as I thought it would be, and the same will be the case for this year's show. This E3 is not a doom & gloom moment, and there are many factors which might realistically even reduce the amount of content intentionally being shown this year:
Games by XGS / Games by Sony Playstation Studios
Includes Publishing and the Sony equivalent
"Main" Showcase 2020: 12 / 9
E3 2019: 14 / -
E3 2018: 10 / 9
E3 2017: 6 / 12
E3 2016: 10 / 10
E3 2015: 11 / 14
E3 2014: 13 / 14
You see that the number of first-party games shown at these shows are on average around the 9 - 12 games mark. The reason for that is also clear: if you show too many games, you start to overshadow your own content. There is only so much content that stays memorable by an individual viewer, and the last thing you want is so oversaturate with content. You are, as a reader of this forum, pretty educated about most of these projects and how far they are. You deal with gaming news & rumours daily, so you might not agree on this, but the past has shown that you need to limit the content you show at some point. I think the common predictions here in general pretty much are the show. That's not a bad thing per se, but it's the price of being so engaged in these rumors and discussions basically daily.
Okay. The situation is obviously new this time with Bethesda + XGS, but the logic of not showing like 20 projects at the same time still applies. So let's be positive and go with 14 projects, which means we are on the higher end already. Here is my prediction for these. Again, only first-party and just for fun. Zero knowledge or hints included.
So there you go. As you can see, 14 slots are filled very fast. That's my prediction post for Xbox first-party this year. Surely more safe, but I think there are reasons why Xbox themselves might play it a bit safer this year. Given the above and other exclusive stuff like The Ascent, The Gunk, Crossfire X, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Stalker 2 and obviously third-party stuff, I expect this to be a good show with a much better gameplay balance, while some of the other XGS projects are likely not far enough in development yet, waiting for UE5 to progress and so on.
Phew. Done. Now I have that off my list.
In general, I think we have to stop to look at these shows as the one definitive moment every year. The last several months have shown that Xbox can actually be pretty dominant in these "news cycles", if such a thing exists, without having any shows. I will not look at this E3 as their one main, do-or-die moment, but more so as another (albeit important) moment of many throughout this year and in the years ahead. I absolutely include myself in the criticism that the Xbox Games Showcase last year in the grand scheme of things wasn't as important as I thought it would be, and the same will be the case for this year's show. This E3 is not a doom & gloom moment, and there are many factors which might realistically even reduce the amount of content intentionally being shown this year:
- This is the year where projects in development where really impacted by Covid/working-from-home for a longer time.
- The new consoles are nowhere available to buy and that will likely not change any time soon, so raising the demand even more by firing out of all cylinders you have is not a clever mid-term strategy.
- The content pipeline for Game Pass for this year seems very solid, that should be the focus.
- The criticism last year was "too much CGI", and while it's fair to expect still a few CGI trailers here and there (every show has that), the gameplay balance needs to be much better, and they heard that feedback.
Games by XGS / Games by Sony Playstation Studios
Includes Publishing and the Sony equivalent
"Main" Showcase 2020: 12 / 9
E3 2019: 14 / -
E3 2018: 10 / 9
E3 2017: 6 / 12
E3 2016: 10 / 10
E3 2015: 11 / 14
E3 2014: 13 / 14
You see that the number of first-party games shown at these shows are on average around the 9 - 12 games mark. The reason for that is also clear: if you show too many games, you start to overshadow your own content. There is only so much content that stays memorable by an individual viewer, and the last thing you want is so oversaturate with content. You are, as a reader of this forum, pretty educated about most of these projects and how far they are. You deal with gaming news & rumours daily, so you might not agree on this, but the past has shown that you need to limit the content you show at some point. I think the common predictions here in general pretty much are the show. That's not a bad thing per se, but it's the price of being so engaged in these rumors and discussions basically daily.
Okay. The situation is obviously new this time with Bethesda + XGS, but the logic of not showing like 20 projects at the same time still applies. So let's be positive and go with 14 projects, which means we are on the higher end already. Here is my prediction for these. Again, only first-party and just for fun. Zero knowledge or hints included.
- Halo Infinite - meaty media presence of the game starts at E3, campaign-focus, multiplayer tease, more coming in the weeks/months ahead; gameplay.
- Psychonauts 2 - launch date trailer; gameplay.
- Forza Horizon 5 - likely the most beautiful game at the show that people will remember; gameplay.
- As Dusk Falls - new trailer, this is an original interactive drama, so it'll basically be "gameplay".
- MS Flight Sim - launch date trailer + a new world update; gameplay.
- Grounded - launch date trailer or new update; gameplay trailer.
- Project Typhoon - I think this one will be announced, cinematic/CGI trailer.
- Avowed or Everwild wildcard - I think/hope one of these two will be there; gameplay trailer.
- "Spin-off of an Xbox IP" Jez referred to - I can't really predict this one because I think I know the answer. Interesting, a bit more niche.
- Sea of Thieves - regularly gets a new content/Season trailer, makes too much sense; gameplay trailer.
- Starfield - I'm confident it'll have some kind of presence this year; maybe not a complete 20+ minutes demonstration, but a gameplay/cinematic trailer.
- Project Omen - new game by Arkane Studios Austin; if Deathloop is any indication, likely some gameplay/cinematic trailer mix.
- Wolfenstein III - if this is still in the cards, now is the time to announce this one; gameplay/cinematic trailer mix.
- One wildcard I don't have on my mind; maybe Kojima, the new Double Fine IP, the rumoured LucasFilm thing or something.
So there you go. As you can see, 14 slots are filled very fast. That's my prediction post for Xbox first-party this year. Surely more safe, but I think there are reasons why Xbox themselves might play it a bit safer this year. Given the above and other exclusive stuff like The Ascent, The Gunk, Crossfire X, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Stalker 2 and obviously third-party stuff, I expect this to be a good show with a much better gameplay balance, while some of the other XGS projects are likely not far enough in development yet, waiting for UE5 to progress and so on.
Phew. Done. Now I have that off my list.
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I feel this has gone under the radar but Xbox's partnership with TiMi Studios is a huge deal.
TiMi studios, devs behind COD Mobile have made into a juggernaut, over 0.5 Billion Downloads and 1 Billion in spending. Also tend to think Warzone + their main tentpole games have benefited massively from the influx of these mobile players. Speaking of EA, they announced that BF is coming to mobile in 2022. So, FPS mobile games are getting bigger.
On the other hand, Xbox's foray into Mobile has been a mixed bag/half hearted I feel, Halo tried it with Spartan Assault, Gears with Gears Pop ( which is closing down), Forza Street (has less than 5 million users) has not lit the world on fire too.
A full blown Halo Mobile game on the level of COD will bring an entirely new generation of players to the Halo Universe. So TiMi Studios are the right partners to push many of Xbox's franchises to Mobile and generate an entirely new player base who could be potential GP users.
TiMi studios, devs behind COD Mobile have made into a juggernaut, over 0.5 Billion Downloads and 1 Billion in spending. Also tend to think Warzone + their main tentpole games have benefited massively from the influx of these mobile players. Speaking of EA, they announced that BF is coming to mobile in 2022. So, FPS mobile games are getting bigger.
On the other hand, Xbox's foray into Mobile has been a mixed bag/half hearted I feel, Halo tried it with Spartan Assault, Gears with Gears Pop ( which is closing down), Forza Street (has less than 5 million users) has not lit the world on fire too.
A full blown Halo Mobile game on the level of COD will bring an entirely new generation of players to the Halo Universe. So TiMi Studios are the right partners to push many of Xbox's franchises to Mobile and generate an entirely new player base who could be potential GP users.
Solid and very likely imho. I believe Deathloop and Ghostwire would be shown whenever Sony does its briefing/showcase/state of play. Probably part of the exclusive agreement is that they can't be shown matched with a competing brand. Also:
😂
Sounds extremely plausible. I like it, its not a mindblowing show but it surely beats the pants off last years show if this is going to actually include gameplay for some of these games. I think Wolfenstein III would be Xbox exclusive, not sure why it would be releasing on PlayStation if Microsoft outright owns the IP and developer now.
That all looks probable, but one thing you didn't talk about (and everyone seems to be forgetting about) are the non-game announcements. A lot of the time the biggest things to come from E3 aren't the games.
What about the Nintendo/Valve/Ubisoft/Sega partnerships, Elite Controller 3, a VR Device, a dashboard update, Resolution boost for old games etc. Some of those could easily be megatons and what is most remembered.
Nice, seems very fair!!
After watching the last 3 Xbox E3s, the most important thing they should focus on in my opinion is to nail the presentation ( Gameplay, CGI, In-Engine, CGI etc.) because its all about how they show the games.
An out of the blue-thing could be a small 1 minute UE5 Demo from their Xbox studios who have moved to UE5 like Hellblade 2, In-Exile's Game, The Coalition of images, hints of Gameplay shots of the 1st two games, think this could blow people away.
I can't believe there is no game, MS wouldn't show multiple trailers for something in that early stages.....I would hope.
I didn't realise it was almost 2 years ago since the first announcement. I will clarify that they had no game when they showed that first trailer. so perhaps they are further in now. What I have heard more recently backs up the troubles it has had, I wouldn't expect it this or maybe even next year.
That seems impossible given how long it's been in development, especially when we had reliable sites like VGC reporting what the game was when it was announced:
Rare’s Scarlett adventure game ‘will be announced at X019’ | VGC
Microsoft will reportedly reveal new IPs from Rare and Obsidian…
www.videogameschronicle.com
Rare hasn’t discussed Everwild much ‘because it’s still playing around with gameplay ideas’ | VGC
Studio wants to create a world where players can ‘lose themselves in nature’…
www.videogameschronicle.com
Yup, I guess the Spin off Xbox IP will be the XGS Publishing AA Games.
The list is great and all will depends of the execution of these Gameplay Presentation/Trailer.
exactly this.That seems impossible given how long it's been in development, especially when we had reliable sites like VGC reporting what the game was when it was announced:
Rare’s Scarlett adventure game ‘will be announced at X019’ | VGC
Microsoft will reportedly reveal new IPs from Rare and Obsidian…Rare hasn’t discussed Everwild much ‘because it’s still playing around with gameplay ideas’ | VGC
Studio wants to create a world where players can ‘lose themselves in nature’…
I would be very pleased with that, in terms of the new things being announced. Not as much about the reannouncing of things about to drop. I'd have hoped Grounded 1.0 would already be out by E3, so it's not taking up space in the presentation. I'd rather the time be taken with some 3rd party day 1 GP trailers. Since I will never again own an Xbox and not have gamepass, GP is starting to become "1st party" in my head.
Same. Poster also said his info was a few months after they showed it... which, best case scenario means fall last year, but also could be fall of 2019. A lot can change in that time frame.
EDIT: opps, see the follow up here to your post. No game in 2019 definitely means jack shit in 2021.
Just as a funny reflection of the state of things in XGS, how many games do you think Microsoft's got in pre or full production at the moment? Sony stated they're working on 25 games, while Microsoft's got 23 studio, many of which working on two or three games in parallel.
Would 35 games in development be a fair prediction? Maybe even more?
Would 35 games in development be a fair prediction? Maybe even more?
Well we know:
- XGP has 6-7
- 343 has 1
- Coalition has multiple so 2+
- Turn 10 has 1
- Rare has 1
- Mojang has 2
- Playground has 2
- Ninja Theory has 2
- Initiative has 1
- Undead Labs has 1
- Compulsion games has 1
- Obsidian has has 3-4
- InXile has 2
- Double Fine has 2
- World's Edge has 1
- Arkane has 2
- BGS has 2
- ID has 1
- Machine Games has 2
- Tango has 1
- ZOS has 2
Some good predictions here Klob.
And it would be a perfectly good show assuming they all have great showing (a poor showing is Gears 5 at E3 2019 for example).
Ugh, it would be so sad. But if that's about the announcement trailer, we're almost two years later, so things have probably progressed a lot since.
23 studios accounts to probably 30-32 games in development, yes. Add to that the Publishing team and yes 37-39 seems like a fair prediction. Not many more though.
Xbox's BC is an amazing achievement. They even found a way to increase level of detail in this one. I believe they set the LOD to maximum quality in any distance you are from a object:
[4K] The Witcher 2: Xbox One X Enhanced vs PC vs Xbox 360 Comparison!
Microsoft's X-enhanced magic gets great results from one of last-gen's most challenging ports... but how does the 4K experience compare to the PC original ru...youtu.be
7:07 minutes if YouTube fails to warp you there.
lol! I'm glad you like it.
I have seen that video quite a few times now. Personally I had hoped the LoD changes would have been more substantial since increasing the resolution increases image clarity and consequently unveils visual shortcomings (by today's standards). I think there is only so much MS could do w/a third party title and within the allotted time and budget for the BC endeavour.
It will be interesting to see how TW3 looks like w/the "next-gen" upgrade when it eventually shows up.
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Awesome. Once the pipeline starts churning out games, it should be exciting times.
So Xbox is part of Summer Game Fest. It's not clear what it really means. Could be anything from having a dedicated Halo multiplayer showcase in june to actually being part of the "Kickoff Live!"-event.
Just for fun... Since we know Hellblade 2 and Fable won't be at E3... What if they're shown at this showcase?
Just for fun... Since we know Hellblade 2 and Fable won't be at E3... What if they're shown at this showcase?
Just joking, chill
Will be interesting to see if Ghostwire/Deathloop are there. On one hand you want to celebrate your studios on whatever they're making, and these are two unique games they're putting together. If the release dates hold, they'd both be releasing on Xbox Series X/S within a year and a half - a trailer would be justified imo. However, Sony's deal with them might also prevent them from showing up at a Microsoft event or with MS branding, so who knows.
With Starfield being pushed back to 2022, I think a smaller trailer with a look at actual assets would be fitting with how BGS operates. Todd will want to save his big demo moment for closer to release, perhaps at QuakeCon (August 21) or XO21 (November) if that exists. Maybe a special event like Inside Xbox for Starfield, idk. Thinking we get a teaser like this, ending with a date for the full reveal:
Would be awesome to see Arkane Austin and MachineGames show up. It seems realistic for them both to release games by Q2 2022, so now's the time to reveal them. Avowed is another interesting one. Obsidian has been working on it with the majority of their studio since the aquisition in 2018. You'd hope they have at least something ready for us to see, even if it's a trailer like the one above mostly showing the open world and some general plot beats.
With Starfield being pushed back to 2022, I think a smaller trailer with a look at actual assets would be fitting with how BGS operates. Todd will want to save his big demo moment for closer to release, perhaps at QuakeCon (August 21) or XO21 (November) if that exists. Maybe a special event like Inside Xbox for Starfield, idk. Thinking we get a teaser like this, ending with a date for the full reveal:
Would be awesome to see Arkane Austin and MachineGames show up. It seems realistic for them both to release games by Q2 2022, so now's the time to reveal them. Avowed is another interesting one. Obsidian has been working on it with the majority of their studio since the aquisition in 2018. You'd hope they have at least something ready for us to see, even if it's a trailer like the one above mostly showing the open world and some general plot beats.
Great prediction.
If Sea of Thieves is featured, and simularly to The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon last year, I could see Fallout 76 having a trailer for its Steel Reign expansion like they had for Steel Dawn in November then at the Game Awards.
It's planned for July (so a trailer may be early) but the new questline is already playable in the PTS server on PC so who knows.
In the wildcard, I could see a recruitement trailer (like Perfect Dark and Project 007) for the game that the new San Diego studio of ZeniMax Online is working on. They have a lot of open positions and want to expand their team, and they seem quite excited about this project. Revealing what it is could help them (though they say it's a "new IP", so I don't know if a CGI or in-engine trailer would make sense compared to Perfect Dark or James Bond, but it remains to be seen what they mean by "new IP").
I could see Age of Empires 4 also. It's their big game for Game Pass PC (with Halo Infinite).
They just had an event last month but we only know 4 or the 8 civilisations at launch and game is planned for Fall 2021 like Halo Infinite so it may be the last global event before release. So they could reveal the 4 last civilizations.
But maybe Age of Empires 4 would feel unnecessary so soon after the Fan Preview (2 months).
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Another Senior Character Artist for H2.
I think they have 6-7 Character Artist now working on Hellblade 2, Massive improvement compare to Hellblade 1
I always find the notion of Everwild being shown or coming out within the next 12-18 months hilarious.
You might see it next year in terms of actual gameplay, but your not seeing anything from that game this year, and it's definitely not coming out in 2022.
That's pegged as a 2023 game at the earliest in my mind.
You might see it next year in terms of actual gameplay, but your not seeing anything from that game this year, and it's definitely not coming out in 2022.
That's pegged as a 2023 game at the earliest in my mind.
It's crazy to think that is around half of the whole development team of Hellblade lol.
I'm expecting less games cause as you said there has to be time for Warhammer, Crossfire...
Bethesda go on their own so who knows.
This is how Rare have always operated to be fair. Goldeneye was a lightgun game, Banjo was a sidescroller then an iso platformer with DKC tech, until the team visited Nintendo HQ and got a glimpse of Mario 64, that changed everything, again!
Klob tweeted last month Everwild 2022, Fable 2023, Perfect Dark 2023+
Normally exclusivity deals like the one these games have with Sony come with a marketing deal. Doubt Microsoft would mess with that. If the game is successful there could be dlc down the road so it's a possibility they include it with gamepass as a full package when the year exclusivity ends. They could also time the 'bigger' dlc(if there is dlc) to drop when the exclusivity ends
Well makes sense. PD doesnt have something to gain from the IP. MS isnt gonna make one of they dont own the publishing IP and Obsidian isnt gonna make a ToW without MS. So PD was always gonna get a pay from it and sell it.
Seems like MS got a lot to show. Perhaps their partner announcements for GF and the first party stuff for E3.
man between Deathloop launching on gamepass in 2022, and Omen launching next year, we're gonna be fuckin feasting with Arkane games.
Microsoft could choose to not release a single other first party game in 2022, and I'd be happy as hell with that tbh. Pair those two with Starfield and possibly Hellblade 2, and I'm on cloud 9
Microsoft could choose to not release a single other first party game in 2022, and I'd be happy as hell with that tbh. Pair those two with Starfield and possibly Hellblade 2, and I'm on cloud 9
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