E3 2016: 10 Huge Games We Expect To See At Microsoft’s Xbox Conference

It’s not that long now until Monday 13th June, when Microsoft will bring out the big guns and reveal their upcoming plans. Main competitor Sony has had a fairly strong year so far with several high profile exclusives, however Microsoft look set to blow the competition out of the water with an excellent spread of high quality exclusive games and partner titles – some rumoured, some definite – as well as unique new technology such as Hololens, and if the industry rumours are true, there’s some serious heavy hitting deals with other large games companies underway at Microsoft. While we might not see all of this at this year’s E3, it certainly bodes well for the company’s overall strategy for the coming year and could lead to many more exciting reveals too.

Microsoft isn’t short on games for this year’s E3, there’s plenty of excellent titles we’ll definitely see and some high profile potentials too. There’s a huge pool of exclusives and with Microsoft having strong relationships with publishers like Bethesda and EA we could expect some exclusive reveals at their press conference of new titles from 3rd parties too. Let’s check out what games we could see from Microsoft at this year’s E3.

Revealed at E3 2015, with very little heard of since, ReCore the unique action adventure title from the Keiji Inafune headed studio Comcept will likely make an epic return at Microsoft’s press conference. While much of the game is surrounded by mystery beyond the idea that the ‘core’ of a robotic being seemingly acts like it’s soul and can be transferred from machine to machine – no doubt a huge part of the gameplay – we’d expect to see some really solid details about plot, the world of the game and more than likely a gameplay demonstration too. This is a definite one to keep an eye on, it looks set to give Microsoft a fantastic new IP and another foothold within the action adventure landscape.

An all-time favorite franchise for anyone into story-based action games with a touch of gore (ok, maybe a LOT of gore) Gears Of War’s first trilogy landed straight in our hearts with a gripping story that had us hacking our way through a dark and desolated world, that was fascinating and always had us gripped. It’s mechanics changed the rules of third person shooters that we know today. So it’s really no wonder we’re excited to pick up our lancers once more and fight our way through another chapter of this excellent franchise.

Previews of the game have shown a beautifully realised world, with all the grit we’ve come to expect, reimagined wonderfully on the Xbox One. We know what to expect in terms of gameplay, though there’s promise of new elements including windflares and enhanced dynamic cover that’ll reinvigorate and disrupt the pace of play for GOW veterans. With a release date set for this October, we can expect to see a lot of focus on Gears Of War 4 at this years E3.

After it’s reveal at E3 2015, we’ve heard very little about Sea Of Thieves the intriguing and exclusive new IP from the acclaimed developers at RARE. With their pedigree of delivering unique and engaging experiences especially in the platforming and action arenas, we could be looking at something huge with Sea Of Thieves. Touted as an ambitious online multiplayer game, with a fine balance between single and multi-player online; think Destiny or The Division this has the potential to be the Xbox One’s absolute killer IP for the next year.

With very little being revealed around gameplay, we expect this to take up a good chunk of Microsoft’s E3 presentation. The hype is real with this one, and we’ve n doubt Microsoft will look to capitalise on that as best as possible. Let’s hope we get some real concrete details about how the game will play, it’s world & story and with any luck a release window so we can clear our schedules for this epic pirate adventure.

The Mass Effect franchise quickly became a formidable beast and the premier Action Sci-Fi RPG to play of the last generation. Originally starting out as Xbox Exclusive before going multi-platform it’s a franchised loved by many, with huge depth of storytelling, excellent gameplay and rich worlds to explore. Andromeda, the latest entry to the franchise is, as expected, highly anticipated by all and with little as of yet known about the plot other than it being set long after the events of the first 3 games, there’s plenty of room for epic surprises at E3.

With the recent rumours surrounding a deeper partnership between EA and Microsoft – one that has burgeoned from Microsoft being the only console to partner for EA Access – could we potentially expect more Mass Effect Andromeda to be revealed at Microsoft’s Press Conference? We certainly think so, we’d even go as far as to expect some exclusive content too, be that timed DLC or Xbox only additional launch content. With gamers everywhere keen to get their teeth into the next Mass Effect, this could be huge for Microsoft and Xbox.

New Forza (Horizon 3?)

When it comes to picking a racing game for your Xbox, Forza is the undisputed go to. Hailing straight from Microsoft studios itself, the Forza franchise has always given us what any gaming speed-demon-petrol head enthusiast wanted: the world’s most iconic cars, on the world’s most popular tracks with the best gaming mechanics we’ve ever seen. We absolutely loved it when they went open world, adding Forza Horizon to the franchise, giving us a beautiful, dynamic open world to race around in our favorite cars, participating in all sorts of whacky races and even just going for a leisurely spin with our friends.

With the first two Forza Horizon installments being such a big hit, having only just released Forza 6 last year it really wouldn’t come as a surprise if a third Forza Horizon was to be announced, although there’s no solid information yet, we’re definitely looking forward to whatever Microsoft’s Forza announcement will bring.

This one’s pretty much a given, after a video trailer revealed the title was in development last year. Rumours are circulated that the game will be out in force with a playable demo at E3 2016. The original title provided Microsoft with the unique proposition of an exclusive strategy IP utilising one of their most loved franchises Halo. With that in mind it’s a surprise that a sequel to the original has taken so long, but with many predicting a release later this year, and these rumoured playable demos it looks like we’ll not have to wait long before those strategy needs are fulfilled.

Another likely title and contender to make a huge splash for Microsoft is Crackdown 3, the epic open world quasi-superhero gameplay and escalating gameplay structure made the first two Crackdown games a huge joy to play. With a more refined experience, and an expected fall 2016 launch, Crackdown 3 could position the Xbox One as the console to beat.

When the Xbox One initially launched its most compelling exclusive was without a doubt the Capcom published Dead Rising 3. Not only did the game continue the wacky weapons and insane action of previous titles, but it grounded a huge new open world environment with a slightly matured tone and story that took the franchise to a new level.

With Microsoft expected to announce a new console exclusive from Capcom at E3, safe money would be on Dead Rising 4. If this turns out to be true, and Capcom are able improve on or even repeat the quality of Dead Rising 3 with a little more polish then this will be an absolute must buy for all Xbox One gamers and a huge kick in the teeth to fans of Zombie-Chaos-Open-World titles on other consoles.

On again, off again, on again, cancelled, apparently on again? It’s honestly really hard to keep up with Prey 2. Whilst there’s nothing official to say the game even exists again, the huge anticipation the game had drilled up prior to disappearing absolutely warrants a place on the shelves for it. If rumours are to be believed though, it’s been built completely fresh from the ground up by an off shoot team of Dishonored developer Arkane. Whether this means – if announced at all – the game will retain the huge sprawling alien cityscapes and bounty hunter action that set it apart, we’ll have to wait and see. But if Arkane is developing it the excellence of Dishonored certainly suggests they’ve got the skills to make it kick some serious behind.

With Bethesda reportedly showing 4 new titles off at E3, and many sources pointing toward it. A Skyrim remaster seems like an absolute no brainer, people went mad for the recent Fallout 4 and with the huge success of Skyrim on last generation consoles – and the overall development time to create a new entry in the franchise – a remaster to fill that first person adventuring gap would be like printing money.

Furthermore there’s plenty of fans out there, myself included, who’d inevitably love a chance to re-enter this world and try a whole new journey. Giving us a current generation remaster would be perfect, as it’ll satisfy that epic fantasy adventure itch we’ve all got with beautifully updated graphics, and no having to dig that last generation console out again.