In the early days of E3, the event lasted a few days and featured a dozen or more looks at upcoming games from major publishers. Now, it has grown to occupy every inch of the massive Los Angeles Convention show floor, as well as nearby hotel meeting rooms and off-site locations. Where E3 used to be suitable for a few weekdays, it now takes over an entire week thanks to pre-E3 press conferences from Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts.
This year, as we have just recently learned, E3 2015 will extend even further than it ever has before thanks to Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda. Now, the event will truly begin on Sunday night, when Bethesda holds their first ever E3 press conference, and presumably unveils some new games.
But with that press conference comes new expectations beyond the average E3 showing. Most publishers and developers typically use a press conference to unveil or show off a full slate of games, not just a single title. So, with that said, here are the 5 games we hope to see at Bethesda’s E3 2015 Press Conference.
Fallout 4
This one’s a no-brainer; it’s been rumored for quite some time, and now feels like the perfect opportunity for Bethesda to reveal Fallout 4. There have been rumors about a Boston setting and new approaches to gameplay, but thus far Bethesda has not said a peep. However, we do know that the Bethesda A-team is working on something, and most signs point to it being the next game in the Fallout series. Ideally, we’d like to see gameplay and have a release date, but at the very least hopefully Bethesda can confirm the game’s existence at their conference.
Dishonored 2
We actually thought Bethesda would announce Dishonored 2 back at last year’s E3, but apparently those rumors and teaser image were untrue, or the company just wasn’t ready. Either way, the first Dishonored was a hit, and successful enough to warrant a follow-up effort from Arkane Studios. Their first person stealth action game did some interesting things within the genre, and set a new bar for cool powers thanks to its Blink ability. We don’t exactly know how Dishonored 2 will connect with the first game, but we want another one regardless. Arkane Studios has to be working on something, so it’s either this or…
Prey 2
We honestly don’t know what’s happening (if at all) with Prey 2, but we know that Bethesda still wants to do something with the property. Human Head Studios’ work is over and although Arkane stepped into guide the property to a new, System Shock-esque design that apparently fell through as well. Still, we can’t help thinking about that awesome Blade Runner inspired demo from a few E3’s back. Show us that in actual playable form, and we’re on board.
DOOM
Quake Con attendees were lucky enough to snag a peep at the Doom reboot, but the rest of us have been waiting anxiously to see some of what id Software is working on. We know that this forthcoming Doom release is a full reboot, but will still carry plenty of familiar elements. In id’s mind, the franchise needs to prove itself to fans, and there’s no better place to detail how exactly they plan to do that than E3. As the one known quantity out of the bunch – i.e. Bethesda has acknowledged the game’s existence and even shown it off – look for Doom to occupy a sizeable chunk of the Bethesda press conference. That is, assuming they don’t have a ton of games to announce.
The Elder Scrolls VI
Outside of Prey 2, The Elder Scrolls VI is the biggest unknown quantity for Bethesda’s press conference. Fans would obviously like to see the publisher unveil a new game in the massively popular RPG franchise, but there is so much working against that scenario. First and foremost, there’s The Elder Scrolls Online, which will certainly take up a portion of the press conference, as Bethesda details plans for the MMO’s console release and free-to-play transition. Then there’s the fact that Bethesda’s A-team, led by Todd Howard, typically likes to work on one game at a time, meaning that if Fallout 4 is next then The Elder Scrolls will have to wait until that game is complete.
But, that doesn’t mean all hope is lost for The Elder Scrolls 6. If Fallout 4 is not coming, then The Elder Scrolls is practically a shoe-in for the conference. And even then there’s nothing that says Bethesda can’t at least tease the sequel, perhaps with a subtitle or a brief trailer.
If nothing else, Bethesda’s press conference is sure to draw plenty of attention because it’s a break from the norm. This is the first time the company has put itself alongside the other big publishers, and therefore the hope is that they have a lot of exciting games to show off. These are the five big things we hope to see at the conference, but they are likely to be more topics covered during the show like The Elder Scrolls Online and BattleCry.
Bethesda’s Pre-E3 2015 conference begins Sunday June 14, 2015.
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