E3 2016 – the games that were not announced after all

We have an eventful E3 behind us with many surprises, but there were also those whose participation we did not expect in vain. We have now compiled a list of ten of them.

E3 2016 – the games that were not announced after all

There were a good number of announcements this week, so be sure to browse our E3 sub-page, as in addition to the summaries and all existing expo news, we also prepared for you articles such as the Top 10 trailer or the ranking of the conferences. Apart from the most unpleasant moments, however, there is another embarrassing topic that we need to talk about: the long absences. You can read a generous list of ten about them below.

Rockstar and Take-Two announcements

There is no event in the universe where we don’t expect Rockstar or Take-Two’s other studios to shock us with something, especially when the publisher itself announces that the GTA franchise team is working on several projects and they will be revealed soon . Since all of this was done in the weeks leading up to E3, everyone expected the nuke(s) to be dropped at one of the major press conferences at the expo. Say the new Red Dead game (that would have been the most important), the re-announcement of Agent, more GTA V content, another Max Payne, some remasters, a sequel to LA Noire, or something completely new.

On the other hand, none of these took place, but in the case of Take-Two there was also grave silence, with the exception of Mafia 3. Where is Borderlands? The next part of Evolve? Turtle Rock’s new IP? What about the BioShock series? We have so many questions, which will probably be answered at gamescom in August, because Take-Two prepared several titles for them last year, and maybe this year they are saving the gunpowder for the event in Cologne. In fact, we go further: with so many assets in its possession, it is not impossible for the company to organize its own conference on the occasion of gamescom, as Blizzard did last year.

Anything from Blizzard

We thought that Blizzard would also have something to say about their most popular titles, since the audience is always receptive to the novelties of Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft and Overwatch, but even such delicacies would have shown a great appetite on the part of the players , like additional packs for StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops, a brand new Diablo, or the long-requested Warcraft 4.

However, Blizzard did not prepare for anything, none of the mentioned IPs appeared near Los Angeles. There are two main reasons for this: on the one hand, they prepare for gamescom with their own presentation and present their series there (as they did last year), and on the other hand, they always show something great at BlizzCon in November, and this year’s meeting will surely be no different.

Anything from Valve

We are stepping on quagmire ground, but we accept it. We had no doubt that Half-Life 3 would not be announced by Valve (if ever), but the fact that the major company behind Steam with franchises like Left 4 Dead, Portal, Dota, Team Fortress and Counter-Strike have left their player base fallow again this year, which is more than depressing.

We are also not helped too much by the fact that Gabe Newell made a little statement about exclusive VR games, but for example, the HTC Vive supported by Valve did not get excited at the expo either. There is only one possible explanation, which most of us don’t want to think about: Valve has ceased to be a game developer in the classic sense and lives exclusively for Steam, hardware and HTC Vive. Thus, the most we can expect from them in the gaming industry is to update their multiplayer-oriented titles and create Vive-exclusive projects.

We’re reporting from the Telltale front

Telltale Games has a lot of franchises to balance, but players are enthusiastic about anything they come up with. The company promised before E3 that we would get a good look at The Walking Dead season 3 and their Batman game, which was exhausted to the extent that we got a rabbit’s tail of the former and some in-game images of the latter. It’s disappointing to say the least, especially since Telltale also owns brands such as The Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones, Tales from the Borderlands, their joint projects with Marvel and Lionsgate, as well as their own IP which we also wanted to hear something about. Anything.

E3 2016 – the games that were not announced after all

Of course, the decision is understandable from the point of view that previously only two episodic adventure games were released at the same time, but this does not mean that they cannot tell something about the others, and the first part of Batman is said to be released in the summer, the next season of The Walking Dead and I want to launch it in autumn, so this would be the time for the presentations.

Please continue.

We were not looking forward to E3 mainly because of the announcements of new IPs, the possibility of continuing the already known and loved games was the number one reason for our enthusiasm. However, we were mostly disappointed. Electronic Arts did not surprise us with Dragon Age and Need for Speed ​​news. The Batman, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Dying Light sequels were missing from Warner Bros.’s line-up. Among other things, Ubisoft refrained from announcing a new Splinter Cell, Rayman and Child of Light installment. Square Enix didn’t say anything about the future of Tomb Raider, didn’t present a new Thief, and Season 2 of Life is Strange remained only a figment of our imaginations.

The list could obviously be continued through a sea of ​​characters, including the next Devil May Cry, Metro, Wolfenstein and Payday, but from this alone it is clear that we were not too spoiled when it came to sequels. Of course, many gaming events are coming up this year (gamescom, EGX, PAX West, Paris Games Week, Tokyo Games Show, The Game Awards, PlayStation Experience), so we firmly believe that we will hear about some of the listed titles in 2016.

Status Quo

There are a few things to clarify here, dear publishers. Deep Silver owes an explanation regarding Dead Island 2, Bandai Namco could say something about Deep Down other than that it is being made, Take-Two is uncertain about BattleCry, Ubisoft conspicuously avoids mentioning Beyond Good & Evil 2, while Overkill is keeping The Walking Dead project in the dark (the first trailer released at last year’s E3 was also the last), to name just a few examples.

Several of the above have a chance of becoming the new Duke Nukem Forever due to the prolonged development, the slow emergence of the concept, the replacement of the development team, the saturated market or other reasons, but we trust that in the not-too-distant future they talk about them, as there is great potential in almost all of them.

The Nordic files

Like a small ball, Nordic Games has embraced the rights to several IPs over the past years, so they can juggle classics such as Codename: Panzers, Desperados, Imperium Galactica, Red Faction, Painkiller, Titan Quest , Men of Valor, Full Spectrum Warrior, Panzer Elite and Frontlines: Fuel of War.

E3 2016 – the games that were not announced after all

Obviously, Nordic did not acquire the mentioned intellectual products to gather dust in a desk drawer, but with a specific purpose. It is most likely that they will also get on the renovation fever train, as they did with Darksiders 2 and Legend of Kay (but where was Darksiders 3?!). However, if this is the plan, then they could at least communicate it to the players in the form of a formal announcement, since some of their purchases have been made for several years and customers can easily lose interest, no matter how well-sounding the franchise is.

Nordic previously stated that they always try to act as circumspectly as possible, so they do not want to rush the renovations, rather they think twice about everything. Which is positive, but for a silent child…

How next, Dark Souls III?

It’s a fact that the Dark Souls franchise has now become an unavoidable player in the gaming industry, there is hardly a YouTuber who hasn’t played it, there isn’t a gamer who hasn’t heard of it. The latest installment, Dark Souls III, was a massive hit for Bandai Namco, and From Software is developing two DLCs for it, while three projects are in the works (one of which could be a VR title).

One of the packages is expected to be released in the fall, so many assumed that the creators would leave no more room for speculation after the leaked Season Pass and reveal the new horror adventures, but that was not the case. Since the publisher announced the release date of the third act at the Tokyo Game Show 2015, it is not unreasonable to schedule the details of the first DLC for this event. He gets divorced, but the “You died!” inscription can already be enveloped.

Xbox One VR

Microsoft prepared for its E3 show with two major hardware announcements. Even with the built-in power supply, the Xbox One S is 40 percent smaller than the base model, packs a 2-terabyte HDD, has an IR blaster and plays 4K Ultra HD video. Much more interesting than this is the Project Scorpio planned for next Christmas, which will be Microsoft’s most powerful console to date, with VR support. Yes, but the people of Redmond did not tell us what kind of virtual reality technology they will support, even though Phil Spencer mentioned VR several times during the presentation.

Will the HTC Vive be the finish line? Did you choose the Oculus Rift? Maybe Microsoft is coming up with a console that is compatible with all of them? Or are you developing your own headset? There are still a lot of questions about this, and since Project Scorpio isn’t due to premiere until Christmas 2017, it might be too early to talk about it, but it’s definitely interesting that it’s being mentioned, yet it’s being kept quiet.

Free after Assassin’s Creed

More and more game publishers are opening up to the world of cinema. We’ve seen Warcraft, Angry Birds and Ratchet & Clank recently, and Assassin’s Creed is coming in December. But what about the other applicants? Because there are quite a few of them. Ubisoft wants to be the main pioneer and, after Assassins, they also want to bring the basic idea of ​​Watch Dogs, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rabbids and The Division to the screen.

Square Enix is ​​getting into the game with a Tomb Raider reboot and a Deus Ex movie, among the PlayStation 4-exclusives Heavy Rain, Uncharted, Gran Turismo and The Last of Us can move to cinemas, while among the recent hit titles The We hope to be able to exchange tickets for Witcher, Metal Gear Solid, Call of Duty, Minecraft and Just Cause adaptations. Metro 2033, Half-Life and Portal, Thief, Sonic, Mega Man, Tetris, Centipede and Missile Command, Five Nights at Freddy’s and Monopoly don’t want to be left out of the party either, but movie plans like are also rumored, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Mass Effect, Mortal Kombat and Borderlands.

E3 2016 – the games that were not announced after all

These projects have one, but all the more important, point in common: we didn’t get more than a few small details from any of them, if we did. Looking at the revenue and critical performance of the game adaptations so far, it is understandable why the studios do not step on each other’s heels with the presentation of the film versions, but the success of Warcraft and the supposedly positive results of the promising Assassin’s Creed may bring a breakthrough.

What do you think about what was said? Do you agree with the list? What did you miss about E3 and why?

We still have a lot to tell you, you can find everything interesting here!