E3 2016: What to expect from Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and EA at the biggest gaming event of the year

With the world's biggest names in videogames throwing out trailers and announcements like T-shirt and blazer clad Santas, E3 is the games industry’s summer Christmas and the 2016 show is fast approaching. Every year it feels like the show gets bigger and this year doesn’t seem to be any different - the show floor doesn’t open until June 14th but already we have plenty of trailers and leaked details to whet our appetites. Excited? Us too, so we've put together a rundown of what you can expect from the week.

On the 13th at 5.30 pm BST Microsoft take to the stage to show us what they’ve got. In terms of games Microsoft is yet to solidly confirm anything but it’s usually a certainty that they’ll reveal some console exclusives and put a lot of the focus on them as well as give us updates on the ones we know are already in the works. It’s probably safe to assume that we’re going to be hearing more about Rare’s multiplayer pirate title Sea of Thieves, as well as Halo Wars 2, and the post-apocalyptic adventure ReCore.

It’s also likely that we’ll hear more about delayed title Scalebound and we’re hoping for some more information on Fullbright Studio’s Tacoma which is a timed Microsoft exclusive we haven’t heard all that much about, despite the fact it’s expected this year.

As far as hardware, rumours are flying that Microsoft is going to announce something new. This rumour hasn’t been around as long as the one surrounding the Playstation 4.5 console and it no doubt stems from it, so it’s much less clear what we can expect to see. It’s been suggested that we’ll see a smaller and more affordable Xbox One, but there are also rumours that Microsoft is working on a more powerful console, codenamed ‘Scorpio’, intended to support Oculus Rift headsets. This does make sense as it’d be surprising if Microsoft didn’t have some kind of response to the upcoming Playstation virtual reality headset.

Sony’s show is also taking place on the 13th but for UK viewers it’ll really be the 14th as it won’t begin until 2am BST. That’s a late night for UK-based Sony fans so will it be worth your time waiting up?

As far as expected game news goes we’d say yes. Like Microsoft, Sony will want to push its exclusives and we anticipate that we’ll get some news on the recently delayed Horizon: Zero Dawn as well as the delayed timed exclusive No Man’s Sky. It seems likely we’ll get updates on other hotly anticipated titles such as the Final Fantasy VII remake, The Last Guardian, and Detroit: Become Human all of which we don’t know too much about yet.

Considering his partnership with Sony, we also wonder if we might see something from Hideo Kojima and his new studio. It is admittedly early days, but something, anything, would certainly get fans talking.

It’s been rumoured for a while now that Sony is working on a more powerful Playstation 4 console codenamed ‘Neo’ and although Sony has so far remained quiet on the topic it’s highly likely this is when we’ll find out if, when, and how this hardware revamp will be happening.

It’s believed that the more powerful console is being developed to work alongside the PSVR headset, which we’re absolutely certain we’ll be seeing more of considering its release is in October.

Nintendo tends to play by its own rules and it hasn’t exactly been secretive about what it’s planning to focus on in its livestream on June 14th at 5 pm BST. As much as everyone wants to know more about the Nintendo NX console that’s expected to launch in March 2017, it’s told fans there will be no news on that front.

Instead they’ll be able to feast on the next Legend of Zelda title, and it really will be a feast since the Wii U version is going to be the company’s only playable demo on the show floor. The other titles we’d expect you to hear more about are largely for the 3DS, including the new Pokemon games, Sun and Moon, as well as Monster Hunter Generations, Dragon Quest VII and Tokyo Mirage Sessions.

That’s what we’re expecting from the console creators. What about the publishers?

They’re not going to have a booth on the show floor this year, but EA are still coming to E3, with the EA Play conference on June 12th at 9pm BST. It’s already confirmed that we’ll be seeing a lot from Titanfall 2, Battlefield 1, and a host of EA Sports titles including Fifa 17 but that doesn’t mean there’ll be no surprises at all.

It’s likely there’s going to be more details announced for the highly anticipated Mass Effect: Andromeda as well as news on some more Star Wars games. Honestly, it’s highly unlikely EA won’t mention something about Star Wars, and maybe if we’re lucky it’ll be something on that virtual reality version of Star Wars: Battlefront it's partnered with Sony and Lucasfilm for.

Like EA, Bethesda is also hosting its conference on the 12th (though it goes into the 13th at 3am for those watching in the UK). An absolute certainty for this show is that we’ll see some gameplay for Dishonoured 2 ahead of its November release. This isn’t enough to justify an entire conference, though, so there must be something bigger.

We recently reported about a rumoured remaster of the Elder Scrolls: Skyrim so if this is indeed happening it’s likely this is where we’ll hear it confirmed. Other than this, reports are circling that Bethesda could be working on a new entry in the Wolfenstein franchise and might even be planning to announce the resurrection of previously cancelled title Prey 2.

Last up to the plate on June 13th at 9pm BST is Ubisoft. After its recent announcement, Watch Dogs 2 is guaranteed to be making an appearance with other expected titles including Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, sequel to the Stick of Truth, South Park: Fractured But Whole, and Eagle Flight, Ubisoft’s high flying virtual reality title.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see some details about downloadable content releases for online game, The Divison, in an attempt to give its players a boost of excitement and after it was reported in its last earnings report, we imagine we’ll finally find out what that new AAA IP is going to be. Usually Assassin's Creed is a familiar face at a Ubisoft E3 conference, however, with the franchise taking a year out we might see something about its upcoming film release starring Michael Fassbender instead.