Topic: Xbox @ E3 2021 Predictions & Discussion

@Depresso1760 what exactly is a disc playable version of Series X?

@mousieone The comment is probably referring to a product that is cheaper than the Series X but has a disc drive so perhaps a Series S with a disc drive for £299/$349? Series S is very readily available so I'd guess fewer people want it but maybe it would've done better if it had a disc drive.

Do you guys think Microsoft will announce during E3 more backwards compatible games coming to Xbox? Because it's been a while since we've had news about backwards compatibility and I think they've been testing a lot of titles behind the scenes in order to add them all at once or at least in chunks. That way they can make a bigger splash in the news rather than adding a couple of titles every once in a while like they've done before.

@IndoorHero The thing is that Microsoft received a lot of criticism after their games showcase last year where they showed off a bunch of trailers that not only didn't even contain gameplay but were for games that are years away from releasing. So I don't think they'll be showing off too many games this time. Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite, Psychonauts 2 and The Gunk are safe bets, Starfield could possibly receive a trailer as well. But all of these will need to have gameplay footage. They might even tease some titles for next year, but other than that I think their E3 presentation is going to be incredibly varied. Maybe news on the next acquisition, more BC titles, more games coming to Game Pass, additional features coming to Series X/S and so on.

@mousieone I meant Series S. I just realized I said Series X, lol. Anyways, I mean like a mid-tier level priced between the S & X at like $350-$400. I'd imagine It'd only have 6 Teraflops instead of the X's 12. It'd only be able to play Xbox One and Series X discs, No 360 and OG Xbox Backwards compatability besides Digital games, and I think only the 360 had that out of the 2.

@LtSarge I do think outside of a large focus on Halo Infinite, Xbox E3 2021 will be more varied to get around the lack of nearby games. More focus on backwards compatibility (even if no new titles to backwards compatibility on XB1/Series X|S, having a big FPS boost collection announcement), existing and upcoming 3rd party games coming to Game Pass (including sizzle reels like what happened at X0 events), maybe news on xCloud upgrade to Series X servers and release for XB1 to get around the Series X shortage, new controllers (perhaps new colours, return of Design Lab, Elite Series 3), Psychonauts 2 ends up shadow dropped, what's next for Minecraft, etc.

Pshyconauts 2 seems to be a shoe in for a stealth release but I'm hoping that the Ascent is included in that stealth drop as well as the Gunk. I haven't heard anything about the Gunk since the initial announcement so that's not likely but the Ascent has been very active on social media so i think/hope they are ready to go. that game looks great...the explosion particles are crazy...Imma just blow ***** up in that game

One thing I haven't really thought about until now is that even though E3 is supposed to be a celebration of all things gaming, we consumers don't really receive many things from the companies during E3. Like we might get a demo here and there, but even those are mostly tied to the actual attendants. That's why I really hope things will be different with Xbox because Microsoft could potentially announce tons of games being added to Game Pass the same day as the showcase, or stealth release titles like Psychonauts 2, or maybe even announce that more backwards compatible titles are coming to Xbox, all during the same day or week as E3. That seems to be the expectations floating around on the internet right now, i.e. that Microsoft is saving all the good stuff for E3, which makes sense.

@LtSarge I'm not sure how many are currently on or confirmed for Game Pass but I could see all the May 2020 Inside Xbox titles eventually end up on Game Pass. So like Scarlet Nexus trailer followed by day 1 on Game Pass (it happened with Outriders), Ubisoft+ on Game Pass meaning AC Valhalla is there, etc.

I hope they announce a big OS overhaul only for Series X|S to separate Series X|S from XB1's limitations. Trying to brute force through the XB1 OS problems with massively better specs can only do so much.

My totally out of the blue predictions:

• No huge studio acquisition. Maybe one or two small studios, like Asobo.
• Support for 3rd party VR headsets.
• Announcements for Wolfenstein 3, Banjo Kazooie 3 and several new IPs, including whatever inXile and Compulsion games are working on.
• No word on the deal with Nintendo. It probably did not work out.

@Magabro That's fine as long as they have enough games to make this the big deal it really needs to be. Like I posted in the article on this site, I'm trying to keep my expectations in check, but they are in a position where this needs to be something that gets a lot of attention no matter how much good they've done so far this gen.

So we're just a couple of days away from the E3 showcase. Any last predictions? Just go all out, it doesn't matter if it makes sense or not!

• Game Pass is going to be announced coming to the Switch and anyone with a current subscription will have access to it on that system
• We'll finally find out what that Ludens figure in the background of the execs' streams means. Personally, I don't know if it means that Death Stranding will be coming to Xbox since I believe Sony owns the IP. Although Microsoft could've struck a deal with them, e.g. honouring Sony's deals with ZeniMax with regards to Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop in exchange for porting Death Stranding to Xbox. Or it could simply mean something Kojima related, either a sequel or a brand new game coming to Xbox.
• Persona 5 Royal will be announced coming to Game Pass.
• ReCore 2 will be announced (yeah I'm just putting this here because of how much I'm loving the game right now lol)
• A new Banjo-Kazooie game will be announced
• Wolfenstein 3 and Outer Worlds 2 will be announced
• Microsoft will announce the acquisition of Bloober Team and Layers of Fear 1 & 2 as well as Observer will be added to Game Pass the following week
• Online multiplayer will be free and not require Gold anymore

Got a few last minute predictions:

• Wasteland 3 DLC 2 is revealed and given a release date (Microsoft Store says it's currently planned for Summer 2021)
• Minecraft gets a Series X|S enhancement update revealed and other info about the future of Minecraft
• Halo 5 gets announced for PC after the Infinite segment with release before Infinite as a way to let PC players fully catch up with the story (while Halo 5's campaign is bad, Infinite is still a sequel to Halo 5), maybe also Halo Wars 2 Steam release given how it's the first game featuring the Banished.
• If Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo appear in the showcase it comes to Game Pass for PC day 1 (I don't know whether the PS5 timed exclusivity is full timed exclusivity or just timed console exclusivity)
• Summer Game Fest gets an Infinite campaign trailer so Infinite news in the showcase is just multiplayer

And finally as a overall showcase prediction:

• Everything in the showcase is day 1 release on Game Pass

Predictions

• The conference will open with a massive demo of Halo Infinite post-overhaul, complete with brief glimpses of multiplayer. They'll also claim it's running on Series X but it's actually just a high end PC. It'll likely also get a release date confirmation, and a last minute shadow drop of Halo 5 on Microsoft Store/Steam, thus fully catching those players up with the story ahead of Infinite's release
• Forza. Obviously.
• Another cinematic for Hellblade and a 2022 launch window confirmation
• New Psychonauts 2 trailer with a final release date, presumably within summer.
• Microsoft will acquire Moon Studios. It just makes too much sense since Ori is basically an Xbox IP through and through. It'll be like how Sony finally acquired Insomniac Games after decades of them making PlayStation content and IPs that Sony completely took ownership of like Ratchet & Clank and Resistance
• Persona on Game Pass: I think this has a solid chance of happening but it's completely up in the air what form this could take. It could be that they just bring Persona 4 Golden's Steam port to Game Pass PC, or they announce Persona 5 Strikers will also get an Xbox port just like how previous Persona spinoffs such as the Arena games came to Xbox 360 back in the day. That or SEGA just straight up brings Persona 5 Royal on Xbox/PC. I really don't know. Either way after Yakuza seemed to be successful for them on Xbox, I can't imagine Phil Spencer not having conversations with SEGA without at least dropping Persona by name
• Another Rare IP gets revived following Killer Instinct, Battletoads and Perfect Dark. Which one it could be could be anyone's guess
• Jedi Fallen Order's next gen upgrade is showcased
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• Elden Ring reveal. Only makes sense since FromSoftware did debut Sekiro and the Elden Ring announcement at previous Xbox showcases
• Second half of the conference will be completely Bethesda centric
• Todd Howard comes up on stage in all his Todd Howard glory and stands next to Phil Spencer as they shake hands and share a joint introductory message inducting Zenimax and Bethesda into the Xbox Game Studios fold. Phil Spencer also plays a game of chess with Todd in front of the audience to mark the occassion
• Wolfenstein 3 reveal. They've been working on it presumably since New Colossus and Youngblood was a bridge between those two entries so it only makes sense. I also predict that unlike most of the other Bethesda stuff at the showcase, this game will be multiplatform since it's finishing off a series of games that has thus far released entries on every console platform and PC, but this won't be the case for anything after MachineGames is done with Wolf.
• More Bethesda games on Game Pass, or at least whatever's left.
• Todd teasing the audience about the fact them and Obsidian are officially living under the same roof.
• DOOM Eternal's next gen upgrade is fully unveiled for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, coming that holiday with higher framerate and ray tracing support
• id Software also soft-announce they're hard at work on the next DOOM entry for Xbox and PC, supposedly the concluding one in the reboot series.
• Todd comes back to give brief development updates on stuff like Elder Scrolls VI and Indiana Jones from MachineGames, and then pulls a "one more thing", which segues into a proper cinematic reveal trailer for Starfield running in-engine and a 2022 launch window.

End of conference, Phil Spencer thanks everyone and wishes them a great E3.

@TheFrenchiestFry I think Elden Ring will be shown at Jeff Keighley’s show.

@Senua If it doesn't show up at the Summer Games Fest thing today, it's likely showing up at the Xbox showcase. That or Elden Ring was never real and Miyazaki just trolled the entire world

@TheFrenchiestFry Bandai Namco have their own event, might appear there instead.