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The 7 potential big surprises of E3 2018
With E3 2018 just around the corner, we look at seven things that could potentially be the biggest surprises of the show.
While there are always things we can speculate about when it comes to gaming’s biggest 'reveal show' every year, E3 is memorable for the shock moments more than anything else. That moment when the president of a massive company says “and it’s available… right now”, or reveals the sequel or a reboot to a series that we thought we’d never see: it’s those huge, breathtaking things that draws us to our computers wherever we are in the world, hoping to see a glimpse of something special.
We’ve had a look at what we need to see, but now we’re going to think about what could genuinely be a surprising reveal, or moment, at E3 2018.
1. The return of Command & Conquer
EA could actually be the star of E3, for reasons you’ll see as you read on through our list. But the one that we think might be one of the biggest shocks is the return of Command & Conquer. The series has been dormant since the free-to-play version that was in development, and even playable at trade shows in the past, was cancelled in 2013, with developers Victory Games shuttered in the process. But we think the landscape of games has changed: look at the success of strategy games like Clash Royale, or how much everyone loved Into the Breach. EA could easily bring back a beloved series like this with a new lease of life. Just don’t expect Tim Curry banging on about “space” in an FMV cutscene this time.
2. Skate 4 announced
Sticking with EA, for a moment, would it actually be a surprise if they relented and gave in to the fans wanting a sequel to the Tony Hawk’s competitor that we all loved? In a word: yes, a massive one. The attempt by Activision to bring back their Tony Hawk’s series showed that people will not accept a poor game, and without the hype nor sales from that game, EA couldn’t be blamed for thinking their time and effort would be better spent elsewhere. If Skate 4 is announced, it’ll be a massive, massive shock.
3. A Dead Space reboot
Dead Space’s Isaac could looking amazing on PS4/Xbox One X
© EA
We promise this won’t all be about EA, honest, but they are a company that seem to be sitting on multiple beloved franchises. Dead Space 1 and 2 were phenomenal games: titles that genuinely showed what could be done with high-production-value horror. The third game went for a more mainstream appeal adding co-op, and wasn’t nearly as bad as some said, but whenever we think about games that could come back with new hardware pushing them to incredible heights, it’s Dead Space. It’d be amazing if this happened because the sales dwindled from the first game to the last. No matter what EA tried, the games didn’t sell, so to see them revisit this one would be bizarre, but welcome, and a ridiculously big surprise.
4. A new entry in the Mario or Zelda series
Note that we say “new”, here, because we have a slight feeling that we might get some of the older games remastered for the Switch. Sure, we’d welcome New Super Mario Bros U on Switch (though it’d have to be renamed because New Super Mario Bros U for Switch is just crazy) or Wind Waker HD: Definitive Edition, and we’ve even got a sneaking suspicion this might be the year for that Mario Galaxy remaster, but it seems way too early for a new Zelda or Mario game, especially given how much work went into Odyssey and Breath of the Wild. That said, Nintendo’s 2018 line-up isn’t amazing right now, with Smash Bros. Switch appealing to a specific audience, and not much beyond it. While we’re thinking Animal Crossing for Switch might be a given, a new Mario or Zelda would blow us away, even if it’s just an announcement for 2020.
5. The Last of Us: Part II dated for 2018
This can’t happen, right? Sony’s line-up for this year has been immense, with God of War already out to rave reviews, the demo for Detroit: Become Human has been well received, and Spider-Man is dated for September. Imagine, then, if The Last of Us: Part II was dated for November this year. With Days Gone already pushed into 2019, it’s odd that Naughty Dog and Sony haven’t confirmed this one for next year yet, too (though apparently the composer has suggested a 2019 target date). What if they do the unthinkable and cap an amazing year for Sony with a 2018 release date. It won’t happen, surely, but it’d be a veritable mic drop moment if it did.
6. Fortnite confirmed for Nintendo Switch
During Nintendo’s Direct presentation, how amazing would it be for them to confirm a Switch version of Fortnite: Battle Royale? There’s no game bigger in the world right now, with huge streamers like Ninja hyping the game, so why wouldn’t Nintendo want Fortnite on their platform? We spoke to Epic about this very idea recently, but they were cagey. But wouldn’t E3 be the perfect time to announce it, with a “and it’s available… now!” reveal, similar to the iOS version? That said, Epic don’t really need to do this. The game is doing incredibly well, now into season four, so the Switch release would make more sense for when they needed a boost. Since it wouldn’t be a particularly easy thing to develop a version for the Switch, so it’d be a big surprise to see this happen.
7. Microsoft to announce some kind of VR product
Remember HoloLens, Microsoft’s augmented reality product that they demoed with Minecraft and blew us all away? Three years ago, at E3 2015, this was first shown and since then Sony have released PSVR and are doing rather well with it by all accounts, sales wise. Microsoft have other battles to fight, and it’d be strange to see them take focus away from the games they need to announce to showcase this kind of tech again, let alone do something VR. However, they do still seemingly have a deal in place with Oculus, and have Windows mixed-reality headsets for VR available to buy. It’s a confusing one, but there’d be some massively surprised people if Microsoft used the power of the Xbox One X to push VR at this stage.
