E3 snuck up on me this year, but now that it is here it is hard for me to contain my excitement for gaming's most significant show of the year. For the past two E3's I've shared my biggest E3 predictions here on my blog and I definitely wanted to continue the tradition for E3 2017. While many games have their announcements ahead of E3, there is still plenty of room for surprises since some can make far bigger impacts on stage or during the show.
Without further ado, here are my seven predictions for E3 2017!
Dark Souls Comes To The Switch
Over the next year or so, many Japanese third party developers and games will rapidly make their way to the Switch especially as huge games like Monster Hunter, Pokemon (eventually!), and Dragon Quest significantly expand the market. While the Switch launch has been very successful worldwide, the West in particular will need more games to grow the audience and I'm not holding my breath for any significant Western third party support. One game that I think will be very well received on the Switch, is a port of Dark Souls. I'm not sure whether it will be a port of the original Dark Souls or a port of the latest game, Dark Souls 3, but I'm confident Dark Souls will be a big announcement at Nintendo's presentation since the franchise has a ton of worldwide cache and would transition well to handheld play.
Sucker Punch Announces A New IP
We already know five games Sony will highlight at E3 this year: God of War, Spider-Man, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Days Gone, and Gran Turismo Sport. In addition to the confirmed games, there are a handful of others waiting in the wings that likely will appear as well including Death Stranding and Detroit: Become Human. That doesn't leave a lot of room for new announcements, but I think Sony knows it has to announce at least one major new first party game at E3 and Sucker Punch seems prime to debut their latest. Since a significant amount of time has passed since Infamous Second Son graced the launch window of the PS4, I'm doubtful that Sucker Punch would be working on an unannounced Infamous sequel at this point. Their game must be a new IP then, though I do expect it to still be an open world game of some sort.
Microsoft Announces An Imminent Beta For Sea Of Thieves
Microsoft is currently lacking a substantial games line up beyond Halo, Forza, and Gears of War. With Scalebound sadly cancelled, the only two other major AAA games in development that we know of are Crackdown 3 and Rare's online pirate game Sea of Thieves. The latter I feel especially has a ton of potential, but it seems to have rapidly faded in terms of mindshare since it was announced so long ago. To revitalize interest in Sea of Thieves, I think Microsoft will kick off an open beta during or shortly after E3 ends. Since the game heavily relies on co-op, I think there is a strong potential for a ton of great stories to emerge from a beta which should incentivize Microsoft and Rare to let the public get their hands on it.
Resident Evil 2 Remake Emerges
The long awaited remake for Resident Evil 2 entered development over a year ago and we haven't heard a word about it since. I think it is time to unveil it for the first time at E3 and my guess is that it will more closely resemble the 3rd person action games like RE6 and Revelations 2 than RE7 which would have been an unproven new direction at the time the project was green lit. Also, for the record, I had this prediction before the news story broke about a Vietnamese skin care company accidentally copying the Umbrella logo. While the jury is still out whether this was an elaborate marketing stunt or not, I think the story is legitimate and thus the RE2 Remake announcement will be a real surprise.
Definitive Edition Of Super Smash Bros 4 Announced For The Switch
Smash Bros will inevitably come to the Switch and I think it makes the most sense to bring a definitive version of Super Smash Bros 4 to it as soon as possible. Smash 4 has so much content in it that it would be foolish to remake all of it from scratch on the Switch for very diminishing returns. Using Smash Bros for Wii U as a base, a definitive version that adds some of the 3DS content as well as adding more characters and stages will more than satisfy Smash fans. A promise of healthy DLC support could help the game remain relevant throughout the Switch's life.
Ubisoft Revives Prince of Persia
Ubisoft always announces a few new games at their annual E3 press conference and this year I believe one of them will be a Prince of Persia reboot. There has been no rumors or rumblings to my knowledge of a POP reboot so I'm not sure quite how big of a reboot it will be, but I think we are so far removed from the Hollywood movie that Ubisoft will be willing to take a chance on Prince of Persia again. I personally want it to be a 3D game, but I see it more likely being revived as a 2D game with one of Ubisoft's art-focused engines.
Kingdom Hearts III Appears And Promises A 2018 Release
If you have been following Square Enix lately, you'll know that at a recent investors meeting that Kingdom Hearts III and the Final Fantasy VII Remake were announced to be coming in the next three years. While that announcement seems very doom and gloom, I think Kingdom Hearts III will actually appear at E3 with a new trailer that will announce a new world or two and, most importantly, promise a holiday 2018 release that it may or may not ultimately meet. Unlike the FFVII Remake, which appears to have been rebooted entirely, there is little reason to believe that Kingdom Hearts III's development hasn't been quietly progressing smoothly under the capable Osaka team since its announcement four years ago. The delay of FFXV last year caused multiple game delays and forced Square to alter their marketing accordingly which could account for why the promised "winter news" never arrived. With FFXV and all of the ports out of the way, it's time to for Square Enix to commit to their next big worldwide AAA Japanese game release and I'm confident that is Kingdom Hearts III. (Sorry Dragon Quest XI! The West doesn't love you enough!)
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That concludes my annual E3 predictions blog. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm curious to hear if you have any last minute hopes and predictions before the show kicks off on Saturday. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below!