Poll: How Would You Grade Xbox & Bethesda's E3 2021 Showcase?

Despite not owning an Xbox, this was a really really strong showing. Plenty to look forward to in the future, plenty coming out soon. Great additions to Game Pass like Yakuza Like A Dragon and Hades and lots coming day 1 in the future. Time will only tell if Sony match it.

A D from me

I'm not interested in halo or forza so to me this conference was pretty bad, a few cgi trailers and starfield is late 2022 with a likely delay, stalker 2 is also 2022 and is coming to playstation aswell, the rest of the games also coming to playstation (apart from flight simulator, halo, forza and arkane game)

To be honest really making me think why I bought a series S this year, could of waited another year easily but oh well.

Here's to hoping square or Nintendo can save this E3 for me, especially after the poor ubisoft showing yesterday

I was expecting a little more and there was a lot for 2022 but seeing Psychonauts get a release date, Hades porting over, Atomic Heart looking like an insane Bioshock and Outer Worlds 2 made it decent but never ground breaking.

There was a lot of great games, and potentially great games

But there was a whole lot of 2022.

For once, MS had a great E3. Very happy I bought into Xbox.

I would give it a solid C. I just don't understand why they didn't show gameplay of certain exclusives coming this year, such as Scorn and The Gunk. Would've personally liked a more focus on first-party stuff in general.

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, and only a few of the indie games really interested me like 12 Minutes

I'd give this like a C or maybe a C+

I need to think about it first, definitely did not wow me. No halo real gameplay campaign footage.

If I see the words “Launch Exclusive” one more time I will cry.

If see the words “in game engine” one more time I will cry.

Thank the lord for FH5 and playground games.
Real gameplay end of story. The only thing that wowed me.

The rest was indie stuff, timed exclusive and in engine footage and existing game add ons.

Even though I’m still trying to get hold of a PS5, right now I’m so happy I own a Series X. Sony really have a fight on their hands.

I think this show was better than the past few years but still not mind blowing. There wasn't any shocks or surprises. The main takeaway is that Game Pass is absolutely the best value in gaming today period, most of the games are coming to it they showed. I'd give the event 6/10.

Why only a trailer for Halo campaign?

I’d give it a C. The games I’m really excited for are still years away apparently. Disappointing.

Seriously, we all get disappointed at these shows because this game or that game is missing but step back and tell me that was not incredible? Bear in mind that was just Xbox and Bethesda games - no other third parties or indies. Just those 2!! And 27 games Xbox Game Pass day one. Day one. If you are disappointed with that you are in need of a new hobby.

@UltimateOtaku91
I’m with you in this, though we will probably get shot down for it.
It was not great and you summed it up perfectly.
Lots of smoke and mirrors yet again.

I give it a B- or a C+. I feel it was a solid showcase but most of the games were not really for me. Way too much focus on co-op gaming. I know it’s always been an XBox strength, but that’s why I wanted to see much more focus on single player games.

The two games that exited me the most are actually pixel art games, funny enough.

There was some solid stuff, but most of it is coming late 22 or 24, and I was hoping to see more first party for this year than Halo and Forza or content for existing games.

Funny enough my highlight was remembering how much I loved my play through of Yakuza Like a Dragon.

Forza Horizon 5 looked impressive from a technical point of view, and it’s not even the true next gen Forza game (that would be the next Motorsport.) If I was into racing games, I would be through the roof. Maybe I should give the games a shot, and see if I get into them.

Maybe I'm easily pleased but I thought it was great.

Solid A from me FH 5 looks amazing!!!

Best MS presentation in years IMO

I'm probably going to have to say a D at best. There wasn't a whole lot that interested me specifically (though a few things did look cool even if they didn't personallly appeal to me and I had some hysterical moments from the wit and humour on show).

I think there were only 3 games that had me personally excited; Slime Rancher 2, Party Animals and that RPG whose name keeps alluding to me. Nothing in 2021 though which is a shame and the two games I most wanted to see, Fable and Avowed, were merely mentioned at the event.

I ultimately think this presentation could have been better, well, presented. Too many trailers and not enough gameplay exploration with commentary alongside it. Ubisoft did a far better job with their presentation, even if their games were even less appealing to me.

@jarvismp but there was quite a few indies and third parties.....

@jarvismp There DEFINITELY were third parties and indies. In fact they took up a good chunk of this entire conference like Battlefield 2042, Back 4 Blood, Far Cry 6, Hades, STALKER 2, 12 Minutes etc.

B for me, majority of what was shown wasn't my taste but Forza alone made it a good conference for me. Def. my most anticipated game of the year now!

It was a really strong show with games for this year and beyond. I rank it B because still no Banjo-Kazooie or Viva Piñata. Lots of exclusive high-profile games and most of them coming to Game Pass. Plenty of first-party and third-party games. A lot to play in the next months and years. No one can complain unless they were expecting an specific game.

@UltimateOtaku91 not the first time you state this opinion (about regretting buying it.) Honestly, you might be able to just sell it. It sounds you are not happy with your purchase.

Without Forza Horizon 5 I'd probably say a 'C'. But FH5 looks amazing and has a very reasonable launch date as well! I get fatigued by all the stuff that's far-far out. Much more exciting are the July and August dates for upcoming games.

I thought it was great, they didn’t spend too long on each game and just kept pumping through them. Forza looked so good, and the Halo showing was much better.

There was a lot for 2022 sure but lots coming this year to gamepass with Psychonauts, Hades, Flight Sim, the 2 I mentioned above. Sure there was no Banjo but maybe one day.

Edit: Just wanted to add that seeing a clip of Like A Dragon in English was jarring haha.

@Tharsman I'm happy in terms of using it for gamepass at the moment but I also joined xbox for its exclusives such as Fable, avowed, starfield, elder scrolls 6, state of decay 3 and new perfect dark but this show didn't do it for me, not a lot coming thsi year and no updates on games they have already announced and filler trailers for games also coming to playstation/nintnedo

I think sometimes it's easy to be underwhelmed by 70% of the games because they're not to one's tastes, but when you reflect and count up how many games you WERE excited by you realise how great the line-up is. For example I had totally forgotten about Psychonaughts 2, and I think it looks excellent.

Remember that only three of all the games showed will not be on GamePass day one. 27 of 30 games!!!

I'd have to give it a B overall. A distinct lack of sustained game-play and too many CGi trailers to be excited, but 2022 is looking STRONG and some surprises too so overall B seems fair.

It still justifies my Game Pass Ultimate subscription and really looking forward to FH5 - that looks stunning! Even games that I wouldn't probably end up buying take on a different feel when I know I can play them day 1 and I think they delivered to the 'broader' market than just the console demographic.

I still think next years will be bigger with the games we already know releasing in late 22, 2023

A lot of fun for me. As a huge sea of thieves fan that was an amazing announcement. I’m so pumped for that. Halo Infinite also looked incredible!!! And Forza looks amazing. Redfall looks interesting. Starfield I wanna see more of. I think with how little they had of that it was a better start than finish.

What is plague tale like? Worth it?

A couple of cool looking games but overall I felt meh. I think they have way too many 4 person co op games if anyone knows what I mean. Anyways overall okay with good stuff.

Even though racing games don't interest me I will say that forza looks gorgeous and the only true next gen looking game I've seen so far, maybe just maybe il give it a go (might aswell as it's free)

It's around B- to C+ for me. Can't believe there was no single player Infinite gameplay, some of third party games i'm expecting were not there, AOE IV still on PC and not the consoles, and no gameplay preview of Starfield but i guess i can forgive that since it's the official first look of the game. Meanwhile there are plenty surprises like the damn holy moly FH5 graphics are .... just wow! Hades got ported on Xbox and entering Game Pass, glimpse of gameplay of Eiyuden Chronicle, Stalker 2 graphics are also amazing, and i'm looking forward on the new exclusive Redfall.

@IndoorHero Red Fall seemed like a good surprise IMO, but despite reassurance of it being playable solo, it still is obviously focused on Co-op MP.

I liked Prey so I’ll give this game a shot, hopefully the single player experience does not feel like an afterthought.

It’s an A from me. I thought it was a fantastic showing, lots of games coming to Game Pass that adds to it’s already incredible value.

I see a lot of negative people saying they were underwhelmed, if that show didn’t excite you at all then I seriously think you should take up a new hobby. There was a lot of variety of games on show with a lot coming out in the next few months. No big surprises? Redfall didn’t surprise anyone? Sure it was all cgi but a new IP nevertheless.

This was surprisingly good show for them. Not that there was much for me. So I get the complaints but the setup of the show was good; no fancy conversations, just stuff.

People need to remember there are general audience players that spend a lot of money on games that devoted people don’t play. For instance, Forza Horizon is going to sell a lot of copies. That’s why they deep dived it. Or the Pirates of the Caribbean expansion for Sea of Thieves. These are games that make them money. Grounded still has a lot of players as well. But again I get some fans not being moved by that.

But the issue I have is the conversation around what the games are rather than what was shown. There were some CGI trailers but also some gameplay trailers. It’s just not the games you wanted. Forza, Psychonauts, Halo MP, MS Flight Sim etc

(That said Slime Rancher 2 OMG bunny slimes coughs)

@UltimateOtaku91 Flight Sim looked pretty next gen to me.

I enjoyed it. We all have to bear in mind that a lot of these MS acquisitions are in their infancy. I think there would have been more gameplay from games like Fable, Avowed, etc, but when companies prematurely release gameplay, they get torn apart. It's smart on Microsoft's part. We know those games are releasing at some point. Do i want gameplay, of course. But i want quality gameplay. Not some thrown together garbage. I'm patient. There are tons of games releasing this year, just chill the hell out.

I've never owned an xbox. Now I want one. I think that is mission accomplished, right?

Haven’t had an XBOX since, well, XBOX, but I’m signing up Game Pass (PC), considering a Series X in the future which I hadn’t before, and visiting PureXbox for the first time so it’s gotta be an A from me.

Best Microsoft show since 2017 for me.

@tanaka2687 haha same

I'd rank it C. I found it rather meh overall and although I'm looking forward to Forza Horizon 5, that segment was too long. There were some highlights though and I'm glad that Microsoft didn't spend too long on Halo Infinite (there's a separate stream tomorrow for Infinite which is a good idea).

Highlights were:

• Flight Sim getting a release date
• Forza Horizon 5
• DOOM Eternal Series X enhancements (though I'm still holding out hope for a Switch physical version with the 2 DLC expansions)
• Halo Infinite

@mousieone not going to lie I skipped the flight simulator trailer as I'm not interested in it but how good can you make things from the sky look? With forza the cars and scenery are amazing and finely detailed plus it's a huge map covered in that detailing

@UltimateOtaku91 you might peek at the 4K trailer. They are doing a Topgun collaboration in November.

A

So many great games and almost all of them coming to Game Pass. Loved every minute of it.

@mousieone UltimateOtaku91 will only say Flight Sim is a “niche game” but that “niche game” happens to be one of the most anticipated games I’m looking forward to. There’s no other game out there that recreates the entire earth in such detail, where you can literally fly over your own home.

Game Pass is on fire this was a big win for xbox

Between a B and an A, ok I'll round it up to an A. Super Excited for Forza Horizon 5, looks amazing and a lot of fun too. Flight Simulator I'll be giving a go but also Sea of Thieves, I already enjoy that game but that is one perfect crossover. Xbox is finally starting to stir in this generation and there's a lot to look forward to

@Grumblevolcano oh? There is a separate Halo stream? That’s good news.

@UltimateOtaku91 @MaccaMUFC see and Ike not into Niche but that trailer.. It looked soo amazing.

A typically strong showing, I'd say. No one can say it was short on content, but if I have one criticism - and it's the same one I've levelled at Microsoft for the last few years - it's that there weren't enough deep dives into any of their games. Horizon 5 was the only game they really gave a lengthy look at, and I would have thought they would have at least given Halo a few more minutes.

Oh, and where was Crossfire X?

@MaccaMUFC I never said it was niche, I just said forza was more next gen looking than it

@UltimateOtaku91 you should prob check out the Flight Sim trailer before dismissing it! Looks incredible.

@K1LLEGAL more incredible than that forza footage? Maybe il give it a look then

@mousieone Yeah.

"343 Industries Halo Infinite Multiplayer Overview – Monday, 6/14 – More gameplay and insights from the team, debuts at 8AM PT on YouTube.com/Halo."

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/halo-infinite-multiplayer-reveal

@Grumblevolcano you think they would have announced that. Seems kind of a big deal. Geez. I get not being in the show but oh boy ..

@UltimateOtaku91 I would say those 2 are the standouts. Flight Sim is obviously from a different perspective; it’s less the individual details and more the World as a whole. Forza is incredible in those photorealistic shots that we saw.

I am bitterly disappointed by that, only two games interest me Halo and Forza. Why did they not show any new gameplay campaign footage for Halo Infinite? Shocking.
I'm worried about the quality of this game.

B overall. Great showing for gamepass and I love Psychonauts 2 being close and Outer Worlds 2 existing.

B. Good showing but still too many CGI trailers for the big hitters.

@xMightyMatt14x Easiest comparison for A Plague Tale is The Last of Us. No gunplay, as you use a slingshot, but there are definite similarities.

I'm surprised that I'm pretty positive about the show as a whole. I was expecting a lot and was pretty pleased overall. I'd probably give it a B. I was hoping for an Asobo acquisition, but oh well. A lot games got announced for release between now-ish and 2022 for Game Pass, and Yakuza Like a Dragon now being on Game Pass is awesome since I've been wanting to play it but just never bought it yet.

To those complaining about Halo Infinite, the multiplayer footage was definitely in-game even without the hud, so if anything you can tell the game is in a lot better shape than it was before (at least graphically).

Really great show for me. Loved that they featured so many genres of games all coming to game pass. They focused a lot on the end of the year and their is basically something coming out now till 2022 every week or so that I'm going to try on game pass and see what I fall in love with.
Flight Simulator and Horizons 5 are true "next-gen." Ecstatic I have an X and an S series for coop games with the SO.

Too many co-op shooters. Only one interesting J-style game (that Suikoden clone). Halo aside, I am not interested in other announcments. Although, most of them are great games for their fans. Xbox seriously should work on getting more Japanese games.

During the presentation it seems I somehow missed Eyruden Chronicles is a spiritual successor to Suikoden. That makes me even more hyped about that game, but won’t be getting it/them until 22 and 23.

Shocked we didn’t see anything about the Gunk, unless I missed it somehow. That one is supposed to come this year.

I usually judge these things on new announcements, but I know there needs to be vastly lowered expectations this year due to Covid putting everyone behind schedule. Horizon 5 looked amazing of course, but that might have been it for me in terms of new stuff.

Of course it was great to see stuff like Starfield and Flight Sim, but I already had them on my wishlist.

I gave it a D personally, but if there was a 10 point system I'd have gone for a 4/10. It was by no means bad, but pretty unexceptional. Usually PlayStation do better than Xbox at E3, and I'd personally say Xbox have only won once in the last decade or so.

What disappointed me the most is that they made a big fuss about this being Xbox + Bethesda, and then most stuff they showed was stuff we either already knew about or was just about games coming to Game Pass.

Bethesda didn't seem to have that much of an impact, because besides Starfield and Redfall I feel like we didn't get to see much from them except a few updates on existing games and Game Pass additions.

That being said, without Bethesda, I think Xbox will have had a much more underwhelming show; and conversely, I don't think Bethesda had enough to stand on their own two feet.

I think Xbox are lucky PlayStation aren't there as they will have got demolished. The recent State of Plays focusing on Horizon and Ratchet & Clank were already far better. Although to cut them some slack, it has been a hard year and a vastly different E3 to what we expect.

@themightyant even if crowd founded, I think it they said it was a Microsoft Games Studio game… got to check again the segment… (even if crowd funded they needed a publisher, self publishing can be a lot of work and marketing money.)

Edit: went back and checked, I was wrong, it’s 505, but at the end both games are on screen alongside the GamePass logo.

I don’t think it going to GamePass would be any kick in the nuts. Not as bad as crowdfunding a multi platform game only for Sony to come and make an exclusivity deal. (That Tim Burton-esque game shown on PS5 game reveal.)

@themightyant @Tharsman Eiyuden is crowd funded but not exclusive. They are going to Gamepass day one. 505 is just the publisher. Does this help?

I backed it so I get the developer emails and they issued a statement literally right after the showcase reaffirming both games as GP day one but not exclusive.

It was kind of implied that MS’s money is helping to make DLC 3 which originally had to be canceled. But again that’s not a flat out statement.

@themightyant Are you sure Diablo 2 is on GamePass? I didn’t think it had the icon for it. If it is man that is awesome.

This was an A. If this is not an A then I don't know what is. Seriously. Series S is my first Xbox ever and I saw this show and thought to myself I might skip the PS5.

B+. If looking at the lens of game pass. There a many number of great variety of games I can play. I wish we got to see gameplay of Starfield but game pass will have me busy until later 2022.

As far as 2021 heavy hitters. I am excited for Forza Horizon 5, Halo, and Flight Simulator so it was a overall great showcase for me.

Microsof's "Extended Xbox games showcase" on the 17th should give us a lot more.
Especially a lot more gameplay as it includes interviews with developers.

@TC2020 extended showcase what? Wow. Well I’m glad they pulled the talking stuff out of the E3 presentation.

It was a great show can't wait for Halo and Forza!!!!

Pretty awesome show from Xbox. I just wish there were less 2022 titles, but with Covid running around it was to be expected.
Honestly I am more excited for Forza than Halo, I still think it's super weird they don't show it more and I think the game will flop it's campaign.
Great time to have Gamepass, so many games coming out for it. Looking forward to Flight Simulator soon!

Overall i give it a C, I was expecting a little more from Xbox this E3.. Don't get me wrong it was good but i expected to be blown away by this E3 and i just wasn't.

A hard "C". While Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 look excellent and the latter especially really shows off the power of the new hardware, everyone knew they were coming. I don't count trailers without gameplay (Starfield) toward a grade one way or the other. As for the rest, let's just say that FPSes, open-world, post-apocalyptic, and zombie games have been done do death for multiple generations now, and between that and a slew of visually unimpressive Indie titles, there frankly wasn't much to show that the XBox Series X/S has to offer that's any better/different than before. Sure those tropes may still sell, but the industry feels like it's been stuck in a creative rut for a LONG time now.

can i change my vote to a C-D most of the games don't release until next year. and the cgi trailers man there was a lot of cgi trailers of old games and small uninteresting indie games. was very disappointing want to see more in the way of actual game play . they couldn't even provide us with a trailer of the new halo infinite campaign even better they would have been live gameplay. really rethinking my whole reason why i bought my series x to begin with would have been happier going with PS5 and their 1st party exclusive's

I'd say B to B+. Just watched the show now and it was pretty good. Lots of games and little talk which is great. Halo looked just stunning and really had me looking forward to playing it and FH5 is just bonkers with the graphics. I'm expecting it to be lots of fun like FH4. A constant stream of games coming to gamepass and they didn't even talk about tunic, the Gunk or many of the other games announced last year. The amount of different games coming is just great. Keep it up Xbox

Are people just difficult to please or did people just have very high expectations. It seems like a lot of people would be happy paying £70 for a new game on PlayStation rather then just getting Game Pass. I see a lot of complaints about too many Indie games. Yes there were too many indie titles but they looked promising. Let's not forget even new indie titles usually cost around £15.99. Maybe people are just really rich? Just look at the value they are giving with game Pass. I think people just expected Elders Scroll 6, Starfield, Halo, Avowed and Fable to release today.

I rewatched most of the show in 4K in my console chair with the sound cranked. Really made you appreciate some of the games.

While I'm mostly bummed about Helblade 2 (not even a mention of it at all?? hmmm) and a lot of the games aren't my thing, it's hard to argue that they don't have games coming, and a good chunk this year, AND to Game Pass.

All I know is my PS5 buddy I was watching it with wants to get an X this year now, and I'm more then happy right now that I've got mine. 8.5/10

I was disappointed by the absence of the rumored Perfect Dark game. Maybe it's still far off, assuming it even exists.

@AtlanteanMan Perfect Dark was announced last year and was mentioned by the end of the showcase again.

If it was I didn't see it in today's presentation.

@AtlanteanMan it was mentioned in the presentation.

I was expecting 3 major things:

• New IP
• Games with release dates
• Something new to play at the day of the event.

That said, It was a great show for me. Way beyond my expectations. Great games for this year, great games for next year, new additions to game pass just after the event. Psychonauts 2 getting a release date was an extra since I had finished the first game the night before the showcase. I can easily wait to next year games as game pass will have at least 1 new game every single month from this month to december. 5 of those game pass games are from Xbox Game Studios. Until the end of this year XGS will have a game launch every month with exception of september. To me this event was perfect as I started enjoying the announcements just after the show and I already have plenty of things to look forward. It was an A, a 10 out of 10 for me.

Did the people whining here vote? Talk about a very loud minority. This showcase vindicated Xbox as a gaming platform. Even PlayStation execs felt compelled to congratulate Xbox for it. 🤟🏼💚😎

I ranked it a solid B. I expected to see a lot more coming this year and a number of already announced games I hoped would see release this year where not shown but plenty coming to Game Pass and I expect a lot more games are still in the pipeline.

A from me, it just shows how many titles they have in development and not show everything! I imagine they will also turn up at the game awards and Tokyo game show with more announcements they will keep the momentum going nothing is holding them back now.

Solid A, good pacing, great variety of games, considering the pandemic I thought this was really, really good. FH 5 was jaw dropping gorgeous, but even Halo didn't disappoint, also loved the Outerworlds 2 announcement, Flight Sim looked good too on the series....

I liked a lot of the games shown. Hopefully Nintendo show some nice games tomorrow. I always enjoy e3!

I give it a D. Starfield and Halo Infinite were supposed to headline the event. Neither game got more than 5 minutes of footage. Halo Infinite looks like it is going the Free to Play GaaS model of most crappy modern FPS games.

@electrolite77 Good question. I don't think there is anything companies can do. There is no pleasing everybody. I think perhaps a game announcement a couple months before release is the future. But, personally I like these big presentations with plenty of games in them.

Scrolled through my recent YouTube videos in channels, saw all those trailers ending with Game Pass mentions. Incredible - such value in that service. It makes up for missing out on variety in the games itself for me.

@themightyant No worries! Just had me really excited as that would have saved the show for me.

I've been looking forward to finding out what they'd done with Halo Infinite Multiplayer, but after watching this I didn't see anything new... As a Halo fan I found myself wanting to play the new Battlefield game instead. EA simply presented their game better I'm sure, but MS really need to work on getting people excited about this game, rather than just waxing lyrically about the heritage of Halo and how popular it is.

Edit: Just read some of the comments and @Grumblevolcano has pointed out there is another session for Halo, so fingers crossed thats a good one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-O7OuliQRY

Might have to get an expansion card to fit all the Game Pass goodness over the next 12 or so months.

@The_New_Butler Thanks.

@SpecialT I picked it up the other day for my Series S. Best decisions I ever made as there are certain games I play regularly like Gears 5 Online and Forza 4 which means there isn't that much room for other games I just want to play one time for the story, like the Yakuza games.

@UltimateOtaku91 Oh, my. It seems the head of PlayStation Studios thought the Showcase was alright. 🤭

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/06/playstation_team_congratulates_xbox_on_great_e3_2021_showcase

@gingataisen he was obligated 😂

I watch E3 showcases for certain reasons and that's why I was dissapointed and gave the score I did, but the third party content and indies were all good games and enjoyed the stalker 2 gameplay

@UltimateOtaku91 My only two concerns were the state of Infinite's Campaign, as its release is still questionable and not much first-party until 2022. Other than that, I left with the impression that Xbox is the best place to play and it will only get better going forward. Game Pass is killing it! 🔥🔥🔥