It’s just a week away from this year’s E3 and we’re already getting a bunch of big announcements. However, the press conferences are usually where we get the biggest ones, so I wanted to try throwing together my own predictions as to what will be covered. I also included a few that may not be shown, but I would like to see revealed anyways, a sort of wishlist of sorts.

Microsoft

I’m seeing a lot of people say that Microsoft will be revealing its next console this year, but I believe that they will hold off another year before doing so. Granted, the Xbox One is showing its age, but it hasn’t even been six years since the first model came out. Compared to the eight years that the 360 was available, it seems a year too soon to unveil the newest iteration.

Instead, I think Microsoft will focus more on the games, especially their first-party offerings. Phil Spencer recently tweeted saying that they’ll have 14 Xbox Game Studio titles to show, so a massive chunk of the press conference will likely be taken up by just those. We’ll definitely see more of Halo Infinite, Gears of War 5, The Outer Worlds, and the new BattleToads (which I’m particularly excited for).

Considering that Microsoft just revealed that their Game Pass is coming to PC, I also imagine we’ll be seeing several Xbox exclusives come to the platform. Gears 5 and the Age of Empires Definitive Editions are already confirmed for release on Steam, but maybe we’ll see Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3, Forza, and Halo Wars 2 also make their way over. Rare Replay isn’t yet available on PC, but may make an appearance along with news on the new BattleToads.

I’m also hoping that we get a release date for the first part of the Master Chief Collection on PC. They’re starting with Reach and I remember seeing that the game was going to be in beta soon, so hopefully a release by this fall is within the realm of possibility.

CD Projekt Red is also likely to make an appearance during this conference, hopefully with a release date for Cyberpunk 2077. It’s probably not going to be out this year, but maybe sometime in March or April 2020. Regardless, part of the reason why I’m upgrading my computer over the next couple months is to accommodate for this game, so please don’t let me down here CDR.

THQ Nordic is probably going to show up here too. We already know that they have a new Darksiders game in the works, so that will likely be revealed here. And, although it hasn’t been confirmed, I expect a new Red Faction to also be announced, especially given the rumors. However, all I’m really hoping for from THQ is the Nickelodeon games that they licensed a year ago. We haven’t seen any news since then and I really need my Battle for Bikini Bottom fix.

Aside from all that, there have been rumors going around regarding a new Fable game and even a remake or sequel to The Simpsons: Hit & Run. I personally would love to see another Hydro Thunder game, FromSoftware’s new project, Rocksteady’s new project, and maybe even a new game from Mojang.

Bethesda

Bethesda has already confirmed that they will not be showing Elder Scrolls 6 or Starfield at E3, so I really don’t know what they’re going to fill their time with. Sure, we’ll get some Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein: Youngblood, but beyond that, I don’t think Bethesda has anything else confirmed to be in the works. They’ll probably give some time to discuss the future of Fallout 76 and maybe even upcoming content for Rage 2, not that either of those are exciting.

Perhaps we’ll see a new project from Arkane, maybe even a new entry in the Dishonored series. I would honestly like to see them work on a new, original IP, but Dishonored or even Prey would be a safe bet. ZeniMax also owns the company that did the Evil Within series, Tango Gameworks, who haven’t revealed anything in the works since their last release in 2017. As such, The Evil Within 3 or even a new IP wouldn’t be that far-fetched. However, I’d put my money on The Evil Within 3, as the director for the first game, Shinji Mikami, is confirmed to make an appearance sometime during E3.

Bethesda’s showcase this year seems pretty scarce, but maybe we’ll have at least a few surprises. I’m personally still holding out for news on Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield.

PC Gaming Show

The PC Gaming Show this year is probably going to give me more anxiety than excitement. It’s being sponsored by the Epic Games Store, so every new reveal is going to be a coin flip on whether I’ll be playing it or not. I’m expecting maybe a 50/50 split between regular releases and exclusives, but hopefully it swings more towards the former.

Regardless, I’m expecting to see more news on The Sinking City, Age of Empires IV, Rebellion’s new game (probably just another Sniper Elite though), and the various other titles announced last year that don’t yet have a release date. There really isn’t much info on what exactly is going to be at the PC Gaming Show this year, but I’m holding out hope for a bunch of cool new indies and maybe even a new Paradox city-builder.

I would also really like to see SEGA take the stage and announce more PC ports. They gave us a couple last year, but I would love to see Bayonetta 2 and the rest of the Yakuza games make their way over to Steam. And this one may be stretching it a bit, but given that a new Sakura Wars game was just announced, I would love to see a collection of them made available for PC.

Ubisoft

I expect Ubisoft to have a modest showing this year, with new info on the recently-announced Ghost Recon title, a brief mention of Beyond Good and Evil 2, and probably some updates on The Division 2. It’s already been confirmed that Skull & Bones won’t make an appearance, so we’ll probably have a few surprises to take its place.

To be specific, I fully expect a new Splinter Cell game to be announced. There have been rumors, but its more that I just really want a new one to come out, as I really liked Blacklist. Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry are probably not going to appear either, but maybe we can see a new Prince of Persia game or even a new 2D Rayman. I would even settle for an HD collection of the older Rayman games.

Aside from that, I also expect Just Dance and Rainbow Six Siege to make an appearance. If anything, maybe we’ll get another fun parade like they did last year for Just Dance.

Square Enix

Square Enix had a really disappointing conference last year, but I fully expect them to make a comeback this year. We already know that they are going to show off their new Avengers game and that it is going to be a 4-player co-op experience. We also know that the Final Fantasy VII Remake is going to show up with more details and maybe even a release date for its first part. And lastly, Dying Light 2 was picked up by the company, so it will definitely be here as well.

Outside of what we already know, Platinum Games’ Babylon’s Fall is also likely to show up, especially given that it’s supposed to have a 2019 release date and we haven’t seen anything from the game yet. Platinum Games usually delivers some high-quality titles, so this will definitely be one to look out for.

On the JRPG side of things, Dragon Quest is another definite possibility. There is news regarding the series that’s supposed to be unveiled in an upcoming issue of Weekly Shounen Jump, so it’s possible that some remake or even an entirely new title may be announced. I’ve seen some speculate that it may be a new Smash character, but I find this to be unlikely, as that would be unveiled in a Nintendo Direct rather than an issue of Shounen Jump.

Square Enix also just trademarked Collection of Mana in Europe, so we may finally be getting that collection over here in the West. It was one of the games I really wanted to play on the Switch back when it was revealed and I was super bummed to see that it would not be available in English. Two years later, maybe Square Enix can redeem themselves here.

As for what else I would like to see, I’ve been holding out hope for years that we may get another entry in the Final Fantasy series that goes back to its roots. While the new Final Fantasy games definitely have their audience, I want to see something in the vein of the first few, with its classic turn-based combat and all. A modern take on this style with a proper budget could really make for a cool game.

Nintendo

This year’s E3 Direct is definitely going to be interesting. To start with, I fully expect a new Smash character to be unveiled, maybe even two of them. Sora is a pretty safe bet, and maybe even Banjo-Kazooie, but I honestly wouldn’t be mad if Steve made it in. I know many consider him to be a meme, but there’s plenty of evidence saying otherwise, so it’s not completely out of the question.

Aside from Smash, we’ll definitely be getting some news on the new Animal Crossing game. It was announced with a 2019 release date and we know absolutely nothing about it, so we’ll either get that 2019 release date from this Direct or at least some additional news, maybe even a delay. Additionally, Luigi’s Mansion 3 and the Link’s Awakening remake were also announced for a 2019 release, so both will also likely be showing up here. Super Mario Maker 2 will probably have a small release trailer of some sort as well, especially considering that it comes out later this month.

As for Pokémon Sword and Shield, I don’t expect it to have too much of a presence. It’s getting its own Direct before E3 even starts, so all of the details will probably be exclusive to that Direct.

Platinum Games also has a couple Switch titles in the works and I expect both of them to be covered here. Astral Chain is the first, although it already has a release date set for August 30th. We’ll probably see a trailer for that on top of additional news regarding Bayonetta 3, which currently doesn’t have a release date set.

On top of all of that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the recently announced Persona 5 Royal arrive on the Switch, especially given that Joker was just added to Smash and the Switch is already getting a musou-style Persona 5 spin-off. From Nintendo though, Best Buy did accidentally leak the Metroid Prime Trilogy and A Link to the Past for Switch, so we may see an official confirmation for both during this Direct. And, although it hasn’t been leaked anywhere, Pikmin 4 wouldn’t be a bad bet either. I personally would love to see a new Custom Robo game, but there hasn’t been any news on that series in over ten years, so it’s very unlikely to show here.

The big news from this Direct, however, is probably going to be the rumored new Switch models. The Wall Street Journal had published a report stating that two new Switch models were to be released this year. One of them is to be a smaller, more portable version of the Switch that is meant to replace the dying 3DS. It’s probably not going to be able to use the Switch dock, but it will likely be cheaper as a result. The other model is going to be the Switch’s equivalent of the New 3DS, with slightly upgraded hardware and maybe an additional feature or two. I personally would like to see a Switch like that, but without the portable side of things, so as to make it a cheaper alternative for those that don’t use the Switch on the go.

And that pretty much wraps up what I expect from E3. I’m sure that I missed a lot, but this is at least a good starting point. There’s definitely going to be plenty of surprises on top of what I already talked about here. I will probably make a post-E3 video sometime next week, so do subscribe if you haven’t already. See you guys in the next one.