As Christmas grows nearer so does my own personal Christmas, E3. It is the one time of the year I am truly excited for, period. As much as I will state my displeasure of the PC Gamer Show for being a very boring Late Night show knock-off, or my absolute distaste for Andrew W.K and Bethesda after last years fecal matter fiesta. However, my “faith” in E3 is yet to dwindle, and the genuine feeling of community surrounding the event is as close as most of us want to get to social interaction.

Though once again, it may have happened. The leaks have begun for this year’s show and it doesn’t come from Walmart Canada this time. At least we can save ourselves for “jokes” about those leaks: until someone mentions it in the Bethesda showcase as a reminder of last year’s dreadful show. The possible leak comes from a Neogaf thread by Braldryr called, “The Next 18 Months of Microsoft – The Calm Before the Storm.”

Of course, last year was huge for some and disappointing for others. Sony had nothing either to unveil or tease that wasn’t already known; Ignoring that Ghost of Tsushima was probably the largest and only reveal. The most exciting thing I found from the PC Gamer Show was Satisfactory, and the several hundred Battle Royal games revealed. EA did their usual “Sports!” thing. Bethesda was a slog and disappointing once Fallout 76 was revealed. Devolver Digital did their drug-fueled weirdness, and Ubisoft didn’t have Aisha Tyler; though they did have another strange Just Dance section that I always hope had Aisha in the main animal costume.

The real star of the 2018 E3 showcases just happened to be Microsoft, something I said before picking up an Xbox One S last year. With a massive library of reveals and general updates on games, this was almost the perfect show. No matter what kind of player you were, there was something for you. It appears, with the leaks that have happened just this weekend from Braldryr, it could be another insane year for Microsoft.

The first thing classic Xbox fans will be pleased to see, has been leaks about the possibility of more information on Halo Infinite, Gears 5, and Gears Tactics. Halo is expected to have a large dump of information and a trailer revealing a possible Christmas/Holiday 2020 release. Gears 5 is expected to have a gameplay demo, multiplayer information, and some news on a September release date. Meanwhile, Gears Tactics is expected to have a new trailer and release date for PC this year. While fans of Ori and the Blind Forest will be pleased to hear that Will of the Wisps is also expected to have a trailer and a release date set this year.

However, we may also get our first reveal soon enough, after last year’s long list of studio acquisitions for Microsoft. The first of which may come from Ninja Theory of all studios. Braldryr states that there are conflicting reports on this release, Bleeding Edge, with one stating it as a sci-fi take on a blend of Left 4 Dead and Evolve, while the other states it to be a player-versus-player arena thing. One thing is for certain, it is set to be sci-fi, multiplayer (co-op or not), and will most likely come in 2020.

Once again, much like the others, The Outer World is set to have some information dropped, as well as a trailer, and possible release date. Coming from another studio acquisition, Obsidian, and is already said to be coming at some point this year.

One of the largest and possibly exciting games is set to come from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt developer, CD Projekt Red. Cyberpunk 2077 will most likely see a trailer, information dump, release date to aim for, or all three. Either way, I can’t wait to see what they could do in the shadow of the monolith of The Witcher 3.

As I’m sure fans of Age of Empires IV and Fable are currently aware. Job postings are being listed for a 4th Fable release which is speculated to be done by Playground Games, developer of the Forza Horizon series. While Age of Empires was first announced back in 2017, so one would assume Relic Entertainment will be getting close to the end of development for the first Age of Empires release since 2005.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYwZ6GZXWhA

We are also expected to see a Sea of Thieves update at some point. Following the release of the year one update, making the game enjoyable to many of those who found it boring originally. This could gain them some favors, though I feel some players may have already lost too much interest.

As for the nostalgia fans, Battletoads will in the highest possibility see a gameplay trailer this year and possible release date set. Last year we saw a general 2019 release set, but one hopes there will be an active day set for fans of the games.

The final confirmed or heavily reported piece would be the next generation, or half-generation as we’re having of late, to be spoken about. Much like 2016’s Scorpio (Xbox One X) this will most likely not be a physical display, but a tech talk. If you are someone who understands what a teraflop is meant to indicate and what ray-tracing happens to be then you will enjoy this section.

Now we’re into the heavily speculated and only slightly rumored leaks. These range widely, such as the speculation surrounding the next Forza game being Motorsport 8, something I want to see after how enjoyable last year’s Horizon 4 was. There are also thoughts that there will be a new MechAssault game, either a reboot or sequel to the 2004 release.

In Braldryr’s piece, there is also speculation on the growth Microsoft is trying to make in Japan. Capcom could be their largest and most significant partner they could have right now, with several satisfying releases for fans; they are on a roll. This ignoring that Hideaki Itsuno recently said he would like to see DMC: Devil May Cry 2, but only if Ninja Theory (a Microsoft owned studio) work on it. The amount of other titles such as Resident Evil remakes and the 8th release are also are both rumored, though they seem too far away right now. Then you have the previously teased Dino Crisis.

Braldryr also speculates that Rare are to announce a next-generation IP. With the rumors around a next-generation, or as I said earlier half-generation, being less than two years away it wouldn’t be surprising to see next generation IPs being announced. Though while we’re on Rare, there are also rumors on a possible Perfect Dark reboot. The last release of which was a port of the original to the Xbox 360 by Scottish developer, 4J Studios Limited.

As for the speculated studios to be acquired by Microsoft: They are interesting for sure. The first of which is IO Interactive, known for developing the Hitman series which has recently broken away from Square Enix Europe. Though one could speculate they will be working on a previously scrapped game they were expected to release before laying off 30 people in 2009. However, they may as well be working on an entirely new project for Microsoft now.

The other two studios would be a strange collection. Relic is one of the strongest as it is currently owned by Sega: On one hand, they released a report that they “underperformed” over the last 12 months; on the other hand, they bought Two Point Studios earlier this month. Both are pros and cons of why this could be happening. The second studio is Asobo, who has, as of this month, released A Plague Tale: Innocence. They have also worked with Microsoft in the past on the Zoo Tycoon Ultimate Animal Collection, a reboot of the 2001 release, Zoo Tycoon.

There is one more section to Braldryr’s piece, though I don’t want to waste your time on the details of why the acquisition of CD Projekt Red or other studios will not be happening. Though personally, I would like to know more about other aspects of the show. As I said, last year’s show was great as a fan of video games, not a fanboy of any platform. I can’t wait if they bring this same caliber of a showcase once again to E3 or even more than last year.

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