After Sony announced that it's bowing out of E3 for the first time ever, Microsoft did the exact opposite, confirming that its forthcoming presentation will be its biggest yet.
In an interview with Xbox Live's director of programming Larry Hryb, better known in the gaming community as Major Nelson, Microsoft's executive VP of gaming Phil Spencer talked about a number of things.
Microsoft Going Big At E3
At some point, they began discussing Microsoft's plans for this year's E3, hinting that the company is pulling out all the stops to stage one of its biggest presentations thus far.
"Should we go big? Should we save some money? No, we're going to do our thing and we're going to go and be as big at E3 as we've ever been," said Spencer.
That means out of the three major gaming companies, Microsoft is the only one so far to promise a big show. Sony, as mentioned, has confirmed it won't be attending this year's festivities as it looks for "inventive opportunities to engage the community." In the same vein, Nintendo hasn't had a traditional E3 presentation for many years now, opting instead with Nintendo Direct livestreams for unveilings and Nintendo Treehouse presentations for game demonstrations.
Microsoft isn't just committed to E3 2019. According to Spencer, the company is going all-in. With Sony and the PlayStation 4 out of the picture, there's certainly no other opportune time other than this June for Microsoft to hog the spotlight all to itself.
Confirmed Games
Although everyone can expect a meaty presentation from Microsoft in a few months, the company's specific plans for E3 remain unknown. Spencer did reveal in the interview that Playground Games and Rare are working on new projects, but it's unclear if information about those will be revealed at the event.
Rumors say Playground Games is developing Fable 4, which if true would mark a much-needed return to the Fable series, whose last proper entry, Fable 3, is close to 10 years old. Other rumors point to the next installment of the Forza racing franchise, plus more details about Gears 5, the latest entry to the Gears of War series. Microsoft might also talk about Project xCloud, its upcoming cloud-based video game streaming service.
Brand-New Consoles
It's pretty unlikely, but Microsoft might also take advantage of an E3 without Sony in it to announce brand-new consoles. Rumors say the company is working on a couple of successors to the Xbox One, codenamed Anaconda and Lockhart. Not much about them are known at the moment. Will that change later this June at E3? Time, as always, will tell.
Make sure to check back with Tech Times as we learn more!
