Topic: Xbox @ E3 2021 Predictions & Discussion

Well there we go Elden Ring's been revealed

Can cross that off I guess

After that MGS reference in the Death Stranding trailer the other day, I really wish now that a new MGS game would get announced at E3. Imagine if Microsoft announced that they've acquired the IP from Konami and that they've partnered up with Kojima Productions to make the game. Either way, I just want a new MGS game from Kojima. Any other director would just do the series a disservice.

Speaking of which, I'm curious now if the recent stuff on Spencer's shelf actually mean anything. Because we clearly got a Death Stranding announcement but it's not coming to Xbox despite that Ludens figure that was on his shelf. So maybe they've realised that now that people are paying attention to the stuff in the background, they're trying to throw us off by mixing things that don't hint at anything with things that do hint at something.

@LtSarge If Microsoft has to do it to get MGS back on track, so be it but I really don't know how likely it is. I honestly still think Sony might get to it first if only because the first Metal Gear Solid specifically was a huge marquee game for solidifying their place in the gaming business and with the legacy those games have on their consoles I don't think they'd pass up on an opportunity to revisit it or tie it to the PS5 as a huge exclusive, especially given what's been happening with Final Fantasy VII Remake

It seems those rumors of Bluepoint doing a Metal Gear Solid 1 remake have died down significantly but Konami seems fully intent on licensing out their IP to other developers going forward thanks to that new Getsufuma game on Switch and PC, so there's always a chance it could pop up again

As for the LUDENS figure on the shelf? Maybe Spencer just really likes Death Stranding or Kojima. He's known for being very forward about his admiration for games on competing consoles that aren't necessarily just Xbox games. I believe Death Stranding is a Sony-owned second party IP so it's was always improbable that it was going to come to anything outside PC, so unless KojiPro and Microsoft have actually been in talks behind the scenes for something of their own I think it's just set dressing

Kojima himself actually retweeted that PlayStation Blog post about Herman Hulst talking about the future of their first and second party development plans so that might've been done to signify that he's still on good terms with Sony amidst all the rumors about Xbox getting an exclusive KojiPro game

According to rumors this would be the new lineup of studios.

343 industries
Arkane
Alpha Dog
Avalanche Studios Group
Bethesda Game Studios
World’s Edge
The Coalition
Compulsion Games
Crytek
Double Fine
Xbox Game Studios Global Publishing
The Initiative
id Software
InXile
IOI Interactive
Machine Games
Mojang Studios
NetherRealms
Ninja Theory
Obsidian
Playground Games
Rare
Rocksteady
Roundhouse -Tango Gameworks
Turn 10
Undead Labs
Zenimax Online

I swear the number of studios keeps climbing with each rumor

None of the ones I've heard even sound remotely realistic since they seem just based on whichever studio is relevant in terms of producing new games like IOI with 007, Crytek with the Crysis Remastered Trilogy, Rocksteady with that Suicide Squad game or NetherRealm with that rumored Marvel fighting game

Plus NetherRealm and Rocksteady are owned by WB Games, so acquiring them requires buying that whole publishing arm, and considering the recent Discovery/WB merger that's probably not even close to happening now. I doubt Microsoft has any interest whatsoever in acquiring the Discovery Channel just for WB Games

Just saying, there probably isn't going to be another acquisition remotely on the level of Zenimax for a long time. Zenimax was like the single biggest named acquisition they ended up securing out of all the ones currently part of XGS

@TheFrenchiestFry Whether Microsoft or Sony buys the IP doesn't matter to me as long as they let Kojima make the next game. I can't imagine how the series would turn out like with other developers.

But yeah, I guess the Ludens figure just wasn't anything. Hopefully the Switch turns out to be something with regards to Game Pass coming to the system. If there's anything that would make me use Game Pass even more, it's if I could play the games on the go.

@Senua So on top of Avalanche, Crytek and IO, Microsoft have acquired Rocksteady and NetherRealms as well? That would be quite insane but it does make sense actually. Sony has Spider-Man and Microsoft could now have Batman exclusively on Xbox with Rocksteady. Not to mention that NetherRealms could help out with Killer Instinct or simply provide a better 2D fighter with Mortal Kombat.

@LtSarge If a new MG game does happen, it's definitely not going to involve Kojima in anything other than maybe a producer or consultant role. He seems to have basically moved on from specifically the stealth genre as a whole and has gone on to talk about how he thinks he accomplished all he could with Metal Gear despite the strained relationship between Kojima and Konami

The best case scenario in terms of a developer who gets ahold of the IP imo is Bluepoint Games doing a remake of some kind since not only are their remakes thus far superb, but they also have prior experience with Metal Gear given they developed the HD Collection that came out for PS3/360/Vita

As for that Microsoft studio acquisition thing, I still believe whoever implied it would be Crytek or any of the WB Games guys pulled names out of a hat. Discovery and WB's merger is basically finalized so I believe that shuts the door almost permanently on anyone trying to buy them out since that doesn't just mean WB Games, but EVERYTHING including Wizarding World stuff, WB Pictures and DC

@TheFrenchiestFry I don't want to make a huge discussion out of this because quite frankly I'm not too well-versed with WB and Discovery. But I just made a couple of quick google searches and the WB studios were planning to be sold off last year but then AT&T changed its mind. Among the companies interested was Microsoft: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-09-01-warner-bros...

The WB and Discovery merger will also not be finalised until mid-2022 according to: https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/1/22448140/warner-bros-discov...

So while it's not that likely that some deal has happened behind the scenes, there are still some indications for why this could still happen. We'll just have to wait and see tomorrow whether this is true or not but I would personally not rule it out.

@TheFrenchiestFry There was that rumour of Bluepoint doing a PS5 exclusive MGS remake, the Death Stranding trailer could be teasing that.

@Grumblevolcano The whole trailer was filled with Metal Gear references and easter eggs

I don't know if it's supposed to be teasing something but Bluepoint have mentioned they were working on one or two other projects alongside Demon's Souls Remake but there's two sides to this whole thing

One is Kojima knows MGS is happening and the whole trailer was very much framed as a tease that he has knowledge or is involved with the project in some capacity, although I'm not expecting him to direct the remake should it happen, and the other is Kojima simply homaging his past work despite the fact he's now longer involved at Konami or with the series

It could honestly go both ways

Jeff Grubb has leaked the whole show on ResetEra. #SpoilerWarning

@Senua I have a feeling that will get removed...

alright today's the day xbox actually has to prove they aren't just buying bethesda to artifically increase the amount of first party content they have and that things will actually go somewhere as a result of this

with how underwhelming the first party showcase from last summer was i'm going in with incredibly low expectations but i'd love to be proven wrong. I just really hope they don't pull that bs again with Halo Infinite "running on Series X" when it was actually just a high end PC

I know a ton of Xbox diehards are probably going to disagree with me but I was honestly expecting way more from this conference personally

The Game Pass announcements were great and Starfield getting a release date was also reassuring, but as someone who isn't a Forza guy or who plays Halo for single player, I was kind of disappointed at the sheer lack of content that wasn't years away or happening or that only got cinematic trailers when they were meant for next year anyway

If they had shown gameplay of more exclusives like Scorn and The Gunk then I would've definitely been more pleased. Still weird that they didn't focus on these considering they're coming out in 2021.

@TheFrenchiestFry I won't fault you for your opinion. It's not law to have to be positive about everything they do.

I was hoping for a lot and came out of it pretty pleased though. I was hoping for an Asobo acquisition and didn't get it, although getting an announcement of A Plague Tale 2 was probably even better and one of the genuine really good surprises of the show along with the Arkane game at the end. Forza Horizon 5 looks ridiculous, and Halo Infinite seems to be in much better shape graphically than before. Yes, there was no hud, so it wasn't "live gameplay", but at least the multiplayer portion of the trailer was in-game even if it was styled as basically "replay footage" or whatever you want to call it. They showed/announced a solid amount of games coming between now-ish and 2022, so that was refreshing from the past times of just Coming Soon games that are still a ways off (Fable, Perfect Dark, Avowed, etc.). Lastly, getting confirmation that Starfield is an Xbox exclusive along with the new Arkane game being one too gives me an impression that they are doing what they should and are making the future Bethesda studios games Xbox exclusives.

A slight side note, but Obsidian might be the best company in the business as far as making trailers. I could care less about Grounded, but it was a good trailer, and their teaser for The Outer Worlds 2 was pure gold.

@LtSarge I was totally expecting Scorn here and I'm surprised it didn't show up

I tend to have difficulties writing down my thoughts immediately after something has happened so I've been letting things process in my mind the past couple of hours since the E3 presentation. I think the three main problems this show exhibited that could've made it better if remedied were:

1) There were not enough games shown for 2021
2) There was not as much gameplay shown for certain titles (such as Starfield)
3) There was not enough variety in terms of games

I think point 1 and 2 don't need further clarification. As for point 3, when I was watching the stream, I could just feel PS and NL users getting bored and/or leaving the stream because there was such a heavy focus on shooters, violent games and so on. What could have balanced things out a bit is if they had shown something like Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, Viva Pinata, like any titles that are a bit more lighthearted. There was also a lack of JRPGs and considering how Microsoft has emphasised that they want to focus more on the Japanese market, this was honestly a huge disappointment for me. For example, there was no Persona 5 Royal coming to Xbox or anything like that.

But other than that it was a great showcase and a lot of promising games were shown.

@LtSarge Honestly despite the absolute lack of gameplay for Starfield I think for now in-engine footage and a release date was way more than I was expecting personally and was wildly reassuring
given the radiosilence surrounding that game before E3

The real frustration in terms of not showing gameplay were the new IPs they teased like that Contraband game with Avalanche Studios or that new Arkane IP, especially since the latter literally comes out either exactly or less than a year from now and all they had to show for it was a cinematic. They announced their previous IP Deathloop like that as well and I found it really annoying

The biggest disappointment for me personally was the fact they didn't blow out Halo to the extent I was fully expecting given it's their big holiday title and they really needed to make a really good impression after that whole fiasco surrounding the footage they showed last year. Whatever they're planning on doing tomorrow with showcasing more of the game should've honestly been done today

@LtSarge Don't really have time to go in depth right now, but just in a quick post.... There were several family oriented or "different" games like Grounded finally being out of Game Preview and that weird first person not really shooter and there was one JRPG, but I can't think of the name for 2022. Really surprised about the lack of fanfare at the moment for Psychonauts 2 getting a trailer and a release date (at least a lack of fanfare from what I read here earlier).