With the exception of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and some other fantastic titles shown, this year’s E3 was one of the weaker ones in recent years. Sony didn’t have much to show (only Spider-Man is releasing this year) and Nintendo only had two first-party games present. There weren’t many new announcements by anyone other than Microsoft. Granted, Microsoft had the most to prove this E3. They delivered, astronomically though. Their press briefing was exactly what an E3 press briefing should be: limited talking and showcasing game after game after game. It was actually pretty incredible the number of world premieres they announced (many of them third-party, granted). It shows that developers still have faith in the Xbox One and the Microsoft brand. Jump Force was a huge surprise. Kingdom Hearts 3 on Xbox One? That was an enormous win for Microsoft. Nier Automata? Huge.
Microsoft is making a concentrated effort to bring Japanese developers on board. It appears to be working.
In addition to new reveals, Microsoft did showcase numerous exclusive titles along with some upcoming DLC. Not all are set to be released this year, but Microsoft is playing a long game, as we’ve written about previously. They may have lost this generation’s battle, but they are playing to win the war. Here is a breakdown of all the Microsoft exclusives shown at E3 2018.
- Halo Infinite
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Crackdown 3
- Sea of Thieves DLC
- New PUBG Content
- Forza Horizon 4
- Session
- Black Desert
- Cuphead DLC
- Tunic
- Battletoads
- Gears 5
- Gears Tactics
- Gears Pop
While the latter two are not for the Xbox One (Pop is a mobile game and Tactics, as of now, is a Windows 10 title), Microsoft showed 14 pieces of exclusive content. This is more than Nintendo and Sony combined. Microsoft knew they needed exclusives, and they delivered. It would have been nice to have more titles slated for this year, but the Xbox One’s future is very bright. Halo needs to come out this generation, and it would be a waste if it didn’t considering the Xbox One X was released not even a year ago and is immensely powerful.
Microsoft didn’t stop with games though. They also announced the acquisition of four new development studios and one newly created one. Microsoft acquired Undead Labs (State of Decay), Playground Games (Forza Horizon), Ninja Theory (DmC: Devil May Cry), and Compulsion Games (We Happy Few). In addition to that, Microsoft has formed a brand new studio, The Initiative, who is headed by the former studio head of Crystal Dynamics of Tomb Raider fame. This is exactly what Microsoft needed to do. They are setting themselves up for an incredibly bright future and are committed to enhancing the Xbox Brand.
The Xbox Game Pass was also addressed and they are continuing to add new games to the service, with The Division and Fallout 4 added the day of the conference with the Master Chief Collection coming shortly. What’s more is that Microsoft announced a brand new feature called FastStart, which will allow you to start your game twice as fast after starting your download/installation through Game Pass. This is a fantastic feature, given how large some of the file sizes are with these games.
Microsoft had a lot to prove and they passed with flying colors. They had the best presentation, they showed more exclusive content than any of the other companies combined, and they are continuing to build their brand in new, innovative ways.
They’ve shown a commitment to gamers and their fanbase and have set themselves up for a tremendous future moving forward. The foundation is there, now they just have to execute.