{"id":15477,"date":"2018-06-21T04:53:25","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T04:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/?p=15477"},"modified":"2018-06-21T20:04:01","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T20:04:01","slug":"e3-2018-roundup-part-2-looking-to-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/e3-2018-roundup-part-2-looking-to-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"E3 2018 Roundup Part 2: Looking to the Future, New Consoles and the Netflix of Video Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

This our E3 2018 Roundup Part 2.\u00a0 In part one we looked at<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The strength of AAA games in a world of free-to-play products<\/li>\n
  2. The controversial issue of loot boxes<\/li>\n
  3. The top games for the second half of 2018 and early 2019<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This second part of our E3 2018 Roundup will focus on:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. A look at each of the major game publishers<\/li>\n
    2. Highlights from the major console manufacturers including key exclusives<\/li>\n
    3. A look at the state of PC games<\/li>\n
    4. A look at future issues such as game streaming services and new game hardware<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Major Publishers at E3<\/h1>\n

      Activision Blizzard<\/h3>\n

      The focus for Activision Blizzard was on known franchises.\u00a0 There is a major expansion for Destiny 2, of course a new Call of Duty, and updates to classic platform games Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon.\u00a0 The big new announce for 2019 was Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.\u00a0 This is an action-adventure game from long established Japanese developer From Software (Bloodborne and Dark Souls)<\/p>\n

      Electronic Arts<\/h3>\n

      Electronic Arts has a big new franchise coming in early 2019 in the form of Bungie\u2019s action RPG Anthem.\u00a0 Further out, there is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for holiday 2019.\u00a0 Other than that it was about the familiar with new FIFA and Madden games and Call of Duty competitor Battlefield 5.\u00a0 EA actually launched a newly announced game at E3, Unravel 2.\u00a0 This minor puzzle game was released for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at their press conference.\u00a0 This game would have been perfect for the Switch, but the developers said they didn\u2019t have enough time.<\/p>\n

      Bethesda<\/h3>\n

      Bethesda had quite a bit to show but much of it will not be out for awhile.\u00a0 This includes a new IP, Starfields, a space themed RPG.\u00a0 There will also be a new Elder Scrolls and new entries in the Doom and Wolfenstein franchises.\u00a0 These are all for 2019 or beyond.\u00a0 On a more immediate basis, there is the online only Fallout 76 looking to ride on the success of games like Fortnite.\u00a0 The FPS Rage 2 is scheduled for the first half of 2019.\u00a0 The free digital card game The Elder Scrolls: Legends will be coming to console.<\/p>\n

      Ubisoft<\/h3>\n

      With the toys to life game, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Ubisoft had one of the more interesting products at E3.\u00a0 Obviously, development for this started back when toys-to-life were a big deal. Since that time, they have fallen out of favor, so it will be interesting to see how Starlink does.\u00a0 Overall, we see it as a fairly minor, but noteworthy, entry.\u00a0 The big Ubisoft product was of course a new Assassin\u2019s Creed.\u00a0 There is also a new Just Dance for about every major game platform, including last generation systems.\u00a0 Beyond 2018, Ubisoft has another major Q1 2019 title in Tom Clancy\u2019s The Division 2.\u00a0 There is also Trials Rising a motorbike game.<\/p>\n

      Square Enix<\/h3>\n

      Square Enix actually put on its own press conference this year and they had a lot to show.\u00a0 They have two big titles in Shadow of the Tomb Raider in September and Kingdom Hearts III in January.\u00a0 On the RPG side, Dragon Quest XI, which launched in Japan in 2017, gets an international release.\u00a0 Octopath Traveler is a nice looking niche RPG that is exclusive to the Switch.\u00a0 Just Cause 4, for release in December, was a surprise and has sleeper potential.\u00a0 Future new franchises The Quiet Man and Babylon\u2019s Fall were teased.\u00a0 One of the more interesting products was The Awesome Adventures of Captain Sprint.\u00a0 This game will launch June 26, entirely for free.\u00a0 It is basically designed to promote the episodic hit Life is Strange game.<\/p>\n

      Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo<\/h1>\n

      Sony<\/h3>\n

      With the PlayStation 4 Sony is on top of the world.\u00a0 With almost no exceptions, every major third-party game that is coming for consoles is coming to PS4.\u00a0 Sony also has some major exclusives, the big one being Insomniac\u2019s Spider-Man for this fall.\u00a0 Coming in 2019 will be The Last of Us Part II, Death Stranding and the open world samurai game Ghost of Tsushima.\u00a0 Further out is Nioh 2.\u00a0 Sony also had some nice support for PSVR.\u00a0 Our favorite is Vacation Simulator, an update of the popular VR title Job Simulator.\u00a0 Sony did get some criticism for not having Fortnite crossplay.\u00a0 We came across that issue when we went to test the Switch version of the game and had to register a new account.<\/p>\n

      Nintendo<\/h3>\n

      We did an immediate impression of the Nintendo press conference<\/a>, but we will reiterate that the challenge the Switch faces is expanding its audience.\u00a0 As discussed Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and to a lesser extent Fortnite go a long way to capturing the Nintendo nostalgia felt by many consumers in their 20s and 30s.\u00a0 The Switch remains a solid platform for fans of Nintendo products, both young and old.<\/p>\n

      Microsoft<\/h3>\n

      Once again we wrote our impressions of the Microsoft press conference<\/a>.\u00a0 They had a surprisingly strong showing, mainly focusing on the future.\u00a0 Not including indie titles, the only major exclusive for the Xbox One this year is Forza Horizon 4.\u00a0 The much delayed Crackdown 3 has been scheduled for February 2019.\u00a0 Long term Microsoft showed it was committed to the business with its announcement of beefing up its internal development and teasing a new console and a game streaming service.<\/p>\n

      PC Games<\/h1>\n

      The PC as a platform gets short strife at a show like E3.\u00a0 Of course, this is because it doesn\u2019t have a major hardware manufacturer putting on a big show.\u00a0 However, almost every major console title, with the exception of the Sony and Nintendo published products, is also coming to the PC.\u00a0 Even Madden NFL 19 is coming to the PC after a 10-year absence.\u00a0 DFC Intelligence has written extensively about the growth of custom built high-end PCs designed primarily to play games<\/a>.\u00a0 This is why Nvidia is one of the highest flying stocks in the industry.<\/p>\n

      The growth prospects in the PC area are enormous.\u00a0 In tests of whether PC gamers can run specific titles, only 49% can run Fortnite and a measly 20% have systems powerful enough to run Player\u2019s Unknown Battleground.\u00a0 Given the expense of console game systems outside major markets like the U.S., the demographics going forward are extremely encouraging for the PC game market.<\/p>\n

      New Consoles and the Netflix of Video Games<\/h1>\n

      One of the most frequent questions we get asked at DFC Intelligence, usually from investors, is \u201cwhen will see the Netflix of video games.\u201d\u00a0 This was actually a huge topic for us back circa 2012 when there was a lot of investment activity.\u00a0 Since that time things have cooled down even as services like PlayStation Now and Nvidia\u2019s GeForce Now have launched.\u00a0 At E3 both Microsoft and Electronic Arts teased future streaming service.\u00a0 From our perspective this is still sometime off.\u00a0 Not only are there technical issues but the industry faces important business model issues.\u00a0 Mainly, if games are streaming will consumers still be willing to pay $60+ per game?<\/p>\n

      As far as new consoles, once again Microsoft hinted that something is in the works.\u00a0 Yes, there will be another generation of consoles, even as predictions of the demise of the console game system have been going on since an official U.S. government report in 1984 stated that personal computers would soon make game consoles obsolete.\u00a0 DFC Intelligence has started to build out its forecast for the next generation of game systems.\u00a0 We will be formally launching those forecast this fall<\/a>.\u00a0 Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      This our E3 2018 Roundup Part 2.\u00a0 In part one we looked at: The strength of AAA games in a world of free-to-play products The controversial issue of loot boxes The top games for the second half of 2018 and early 2019 This second part of our E3 2018 Roundup will focus on: A look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[49,38,168,147,58,56,39,74,1,66],"tags":[161,312,53,172,174,52,6,21,85,450,31,179,319],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15477"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16132,"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15477\/revisions\/16132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}