3 Up, 3 down – Microsoft on Display at E3 2018
It’s no secret that 2018 hasn’t exactly treated Microsoft very well. With delays and poor reviews hitting their Xbox exclusive titles hard, fans have been wondering what to expect from this year’s E3 Press conference. As it turns out, following last year’s big, yet unsurprising presser, this years was full of some huge announcements. Microsoft revealed a total of 50 games complete with 18 exclusives and 15 world premieres and despite a bit of a slow start, they definitely ended their presser with a bang. If you didn’t tune in, here are the best and worst moments of Microsoft’s 2018 E3 press conference.
The Best
3) First Party Lineup to Get so Much Better
There’s no denying that at this current moment the Xbox exclusive first-party lineup is weak. In fact, this very thing has been a long-standing criticism amongst the industry over the last year. With an underwhelming response to both Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2, as well as the delay of Crackdown 3, the future of their exclusives seemed to be rather uncertain. Until their E3 press conference that is. During Microsoft’s E3 press conference Phil Spencer announced that they are listening to us and they are pushing for more exclusives in the future.
In order to actually complete this they have acquired 5 studios, which are: Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, Playground Games, Undead Labs, and a brand new Santa-Monica based studio called The Initiative. Though this isn’t exactly a brand new game to get hyped about, this is real evidence that Microsoft is trying to build a better future. Hopefully, we’ll get to see some huge titles out of these studios soon enough!
2) Gears 5 and Devil May Cry 5 Officially Revealed
By far some of the loudest moments of Microsoft’s E3 presser included some highly anticipated game reveals in long-standing franchises. Both the Gears 5, yes not Gears of War 5, and Devil May Cry 5 reveals were met with thunderous roars from the crowd. Thankfully not only did we get a few juicy details about each, but we also got first looks with brand new trailers for both! Gears 5 remained under wraps until the big reveal so as soon as the popular game logo popped up, the crowd went wild! This time around players will get the chance to play as Kait, who made her first appearance in the last game of the series, Gears of War 4. The latest title, Gears 5, is set to release sometime next year. The trailer shows off some story details as well as some Kait in action against some brand new versions of the Swarm. You can check it out below.
Similarly, and although it was rumored that DMC 5 would be making an appearance, there are no words for the hype-inducing trailer that was revealed! Okay, well maybe a few. It was announced that the game is set to launch in the Spring of 2019 and the epic trailer featured the demon hunting twin brothers you know and love, Nero and Dante. And if you were looking for some action, you better get ready because the trailer is full of blood and whole helluva lot of fighting! You can check it out below.
1) Cinematic Trailer for Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably one of the most anticipated titles of the next few years and today Microsoft showed off why that’s the case. Maybe it had something to do with the way it was revealed but damn was this huge reveal amazing. Just as Phil Spencer was saying, “Have a good E3,” the entire stage went dark. And then suddenly there was something mysterious happening, it was the moment we’ve all been waiting for so long for. It was a Cyberpunk 2077! Considering fans have been waiting for even a small morsel of information about the game, a tiny teaser trailer, this was probably the biggest moment of Microsoft’s entire press conference and God dammit they deserve a round of applause for it. You can check out the epic cinematic trailer below.