Xbox at the E3 2019 preview: what to expect

Of the three console builders, Microsoft is the latest E3 traditionalists, with a huge keynote, still bringing its "biggest E3 presence" to Los Angeles. The Xbox gala will dominate the afternoon of Sunday, July 9 and will not be followed by his rival Sony with another ostentatious presentation late, long and avant-garde.

This means that, for once, the boss of Xbox, Phil Spencer, will have the last word loudest, even the last word, at the opening of the show. He seems to have a lot to tell. Since E3 2018, Microsoft has added seven studios to its in-house stable, now creating games for Windows 10 and the console, as well as the Xbox Game Pass, which will now serve both platforms.

A look into the crystal ball of E3 reveals a pretty clear future, thanks to a long series of developments and public statements over the last 12 months, as well as a small unfinished business of E3 2018. Here is what we hope to see and hear from Microsoft weekend.

xCloud

Microsoft has announced xCloud – officially, it's just a project name – at E3 2018 and since then it has mostly said it would have had more to say later. Well, later arrived.

This is particularly the case given that Google announced that its streaming game platform, Stadia, would be presented at the Game Developers Conference 2019 in March and that additional information would be given Thursday. And in mid-May, Microsoft and Sony, all partners, announced that they were partnering to bring Microsoft's Azure technology to the heart of Sony's PlayStation Now streaming service.

What we hear about xCloud a year later is what everyone guesses. Until now, all we have been told is that it will allow users to stream their console and PC games to "and more" mobile devices, which is more like Steam. Link that to PlayStation Now. But in October, Phil Spencer, the boss of Xbox, and others, have qualified xCloud more capacity: allow everyone to play mega-titles on the console without having to own this equipment.

So it's hard to tell when such a thing will be ready for launch or what huge features it has to advertise, far less than things like pricing or consumer specifications. This could be part of Microsoft's plans for its upcoming Xbox, which would depend on what the company is ready to discuss during the E3 2019.

Xbox of new generation (es?)

And on this note, why not bring a new console? Sony has already announced plans for the all-new PlayStation, which of course requires Microsoft to do the same for the next Xbox, and as soon as possible. Observers, fans and really all those who have a schedule are waiting for 2020 to be the year of new hardware, seven years have passed since the launch of the latest generation of consoles. But future designers continue to say that streaming games and other forms of digital distribution will eventually remove the console version and the life cycle as we know them.

Last year, Spencer closed Microsoft's keynote address with a short discussion on "The Next Xbox Consoles", but that's it. Since then, Sony has unveiled its new PlayStation generation at Wired magazine and unveiled the "PlayStation 5" (tentative title) in a video aimed at investors.

It is possible that Microsoft reaches the level of disclosure of Sony and simply checks some hardware capabilities, which we will hear "talk later". But if the next generation is actually an incremental hardware update more focused on delivering content than on big advances in power well, the Xbox One X started life with a confirmation of the name of Project Scorpio to the E3 2016, and was on the shelves a year and a half later.

343 Industries / Microsoft Studios

Halo Infinity

Of course, if you have a new console, it's a good idea to have a well-known first-name franchise as the launch title. Halo Infinite was announced at E3 2018 as "a brand new chapter in the Halo saga" and a first trailer built into the engine. Halo Infinity will bring back Master Chief in the follow-up Halo 5: Guardians, where he shared the screen with Spartan Locke.

Whatever its launch date or Microsoft's plans for new hardware, it seems obvious that we will have a good time with Halo Infinity and the Slipspace engine that 343 Industries boasts for that.

Games. A lot of games.

May 30 Spencer tweeted at the company's E3 2019, there will be 14 titles from Xbox Game Studios. At a time when the biggest names in video games keep coming together around a small number of successful franchises and quantities known, the Xbox gala should be a step back ten years ago.

This is largely due to the fact that Microsoft has left studios like Popcorn since the last E3. Four studios joined the family at E3 2018 and two others – a big two – were announced at X018 in November: InXile Entertainment and Obsidian Entertainment.

The obsidian is the outfit behind The outer worlds, which had a big party at the Game Awards in December. Although this is a multiplatform title released by the private division of Take-Two Interactive, Microsoft will surely use his speech to highlight the fact that people can play this sci-fi RPG on Xbox One PCs and Windows 10 (as well as on PlayStation 4).

As for the others:

• inXile worked on Wasteland 3 since a successful crowdfunding in 2016 and the last word is that it would be launched in the last quarter of this year. This is indirect proof strong enough to justify a certain presence this weekend.
• Gears 5 (No, you know, Armament of war 5) is another Xbox Game Studios project from The Coalition. This baby also has a 2019 due date. Gears 5 was revealed for the first time at E3 2018 and we have not heard much about The Coalition since then.
• According to rumors, in January, Playground Games, the internal studio of the franchise Forza Horizon, would work on a new game resurrecting the series Fable. So, if it's really a bare hands affair, as Spencer suggests, it's probably what Playground has to show.
• Bleeding edge, the next game of Ninja Theory, seemed to have filtered through this trailer on Friday morning. The trailer says that an alpha test is scheduled for the end of the month. So there should be some big news on Sunday.
• Ori and the will of the wisps is released by Xbox Game Studios and was announced at the E3 2017, then again announced at the E3 2018. Expect a release date for this one, scheduled for this year.
• Clean another ad of an exclusive Xbox One, remember Tunic? The Zelda-esque independent game was presented at E3 2017 and last year and has not yet launch date.
• And do not forget Battletoads. Yes really. And finally. After years of slanted references and other teasing, last year Microsoft announced the reopening of its awesome role-playing game with "a three-player cooperative console, 2.5D hand-drawn 4K graphics, and numerous statements non-specific features. "You do not go into the E3 and do not let go of a challenge like this and go away. It's an E3, not a sewing circle, so Rare does better to play on the carpet!

Third party games, too

A look at E3 2018 showed that Microsoft was giving time on stage to Bethesda Softworks, Ubisoft, CD Projekt Red, Activision, Square Enix and Techland. Of these, the Techland game, Dying Light 2, still has no launch date. Maybe there is one here.

In May, after the series finale Game of thronesGeorge R.R. Martin, creator, said he had "consulted a Japanese video game". Gematsu then said that From Software was working on a title to be revealed at Microsoft's E3 gala. According to Gematsu, Martin works with Hidetaka Miyazaki, president of From and director of the Souls' line of games from the studio. The rumor is not confirmed, but we will know Sunday if it's for good.

Other, Call of Duty: Modern war The exclusive content of PlayStation 4 is always timed, but Sony has no E3 show and the game will feature a cross-platform multiplayer mode. So it's possible Modern war comes in any form here. If not, perhaps Electronic Arts, which has also reduced its presence on E3, has it saved something about the upcoming Dragon Age for a platform talk.

Since Sony is completely silent during E3, it makes no sense that the Xbox presentation is only a first part.

Game Pass and updates for existing games

Sea of ​​Thieves and Battlefields of PlayerUnknown are probably the two biggest live games with Xbox ties, and the Rare MMO hacker is in full swing lately. Sea of ​​Thieves The April 30th Anniversary Update has been packaged in the Arena PvP and Story Tales modes, but there may be an update or future feature mentioned here. But PUBG has everything except surrendered the battle royal battle to Fortniteand Microsoft advertising has quietly dropped since the game's launch on PlayStation 4 in December.

In addition to xCloud, Microsoft has the Xbox Game Pass, which is a very visible success for the platform, as well as a home for private launches and independent games. Microsoft has just said that Windows PC will be added to the service with a library of 100 titles. The exact launch date of PC Game Pass has not been released, but another is expected at E3. And an upcoming sizzle reel for the Game Pass library seems reasonable, if there are no new features to announce.

Microsoft's Xbox E3 2019 presentation will take place on Sunday, July 9 at 1 pm PDT / 16h EDT.