E3 2016: The Big Games to Watch

Third-Party Titles

image.adaptive.full.medium.Mass Effect: Andromeda

While EA is technically sitting out of E3 proper, there is something to be said for the announcements it’ll make at the show this year. With the release of Andromeda into the first half of 2017, there’s a lot of time for EA to begin showing off its latest adventure in the Mass Effect universe, but we still think E3 will be the place they do it. The world has yet to see gameplay, weapons, characters, or any new mechanics in the game, despite having been announced nearly a year ago. Expect E3 2016 to be the place where we see a ton of Mass Effect news, videos, and previews.

Ubisoft’s Surprise Finale

To conclude its press conference each year, Ubisoft reveals a brand new game or refresh of an existing franchise that no one sees coming. Last year, they showcased Ghost Recon Wildlands, the year before that, Rainbow Six Siege. Who knows what they’ll come up with this year. It could be another Tom Clancy title, or something entirely new like Watch_Dogs was back in 2012.

Rockstar’s Big Announcement

A few weeks ago, Rockstar parent company Take Two interactive teased that they would be at E3 in a big way. We’ve speculated that their announcement will revolve around (yes, we intended that pun) a follow-up to Red Dead Redemption, while others have dismissed this theory. Whatever Rockstar comes to E3 to show off, we expect it to be big as they don’t typically attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo in any official capacity. A studio as successful as they are has the ability to release news and announce games at their leisure, but with EA, Disney, Activision, and Wargaming pulling out of the conference, there may be some floor space Rockstar scooped up on the cheap.

Dishonored 2

Last year’s inaugural Bethesda E3 press conference highlighted Fallout 4, but no one overlooked the fact that Dishonored 2 was also announced at the event. With the small interstitial gameplay moments we saw in the reveal trailer, the publisher left a lot to be desired from a content standpoint, and it looks like they’ll be able to deliver on showing off their game to the world when they kick off the pre-E3 festivities on Sunday, June 12th.

With a ton of third-party games that we don’t even have the time or space to mention here, not to mention the ones that haven’t been announced yet, E3 2016 is set to be a massive show. That doesn’t mean it won’t be different, however. With parts of the show taking place all over the city of Los Angeles, and with notable companies backing out of the expo itself, we have no idea what to expect for E3 2016 or the future of the event. We’re still compiling our list of games to see on the show floor and behind closed doors and will of course report back with all our findings, impressions, and gameplay.