And what to expect
E3 starts on Saturday this year, which seems absurd considering that it was just three years ago that Monday morning was the designated spot for the first press conference. But Bethesda and EA swooped in, doing their best to push back the boundaries of E3 as best they could. (Ironically, EA did this by completely separating itself from the actual convention.)
The ripple effect is akin to having an airplane row all to yourself. You’ve got room to stretch out, to sprawl without disrupting your neighbors. Each publisher and platform-holder has more time in the spotlight because its competition isn’t stealing all the attention mere hours later.
That being said, it’s somewhat tougher for you, the audience, to plan for. The grueling gauntlet of Monday press conferences doesn’t exist anymore. Now you have to be readily available over the course of three days. It can be tough to manage.
So, in the interest of getting you prepared, we’re documenting how long each presser is expected to last, along with where you can watch them. Without further ado:
Electronic Arts
- When: Saturday, June 10 at 12pm Pacific
- Stream: EA’s Twitch channel
- Duration: 90 minutes
- What’s gonna happen: Star Wars Battlefront II, Need for Speed Payback, lots of sports games, “surprises” (according to EA), and hopefully a few awkward celebrity interactions.
Xbox
- When: Sunday, June 11 at 2pm Pacific
- Stream: Xbox’s Twitch channel
- Duration: A little longer than 90 minutes. Xbox head Phil Spencer recently tweeted that this year’s show is expected to be just a bit longer than they traditionally are.
- What’s gonna happen: Scorpio talk. Lots of it probably. Xbox has already confirmed that VR isn’t a part of its plans for this E3. Outside of hardware, it’s a big question mark as to how many games will be a part of the presentation. Expect Crackdown 3 and Forza Motorsport 7 to be heavily showcased, but State of Decay 2 and Sea of Thieves should also make an appearance.
Bethesda
- When: Sunday, June 11 at 9pm Pacific
- Stream: Bethesda’s Twitch channel
- Duration: 60 minutes
- What gonna happen: This one is interesting because Quake Champions is Bethesda’s only announced all-new game still awaiting a release. Yet, Bethesda has enough up its sleeve to fill an hour. There will probably be some DLC reveals for games like Prey, Dishonored II, or possibly even Doom. As for new titles, a sequel to The Evil Within isn’t a bad bet.
PC Gaming Show
- When: Monday, June 12 at 10am Pacific
- Stream: PC Gamer’s Twitch channel
- Duration: 90 minutes
- What’s gonna happen: I legitimately have no idea aside from Klei’s new game. The PC Gaming Show’s site has a good number of speakers lined up. Expect a fair amount of moderately-important announcements, ones that wouldn’t really fit into most of the other press conferences.
Ubisoft
- When: Monday, June 12 at 1pm Pacific
- Stream: Ubisoft’s Twitch channel
- Duration: 60 minutes
- What’s gonna happen: South Park, an Assassin’s Creed reveal (finally), a lot of Far Cry 5 talk, and a new property. No Aisha Tyler though, so I’m already chalking this one up as an L.
PlayStation
- When: Monday, June 12 at 6pm Pacific
- Stream: PlayStation’s Twitch channel
- Duration: This one’s kind of tough to nail down. Sony doesn’t really have a set length for this sort of thing. 2016’s was about 80 minutes; 2015’s was a little more than 90 minutes. Plan for an hour and a half, and you’ll probably be set.
- What’s gonna happen: There are rumors of a new handheld, but I wouldn’t put money on it. PlayStation launched three pieces of hardware in three months last fall. It’s safest to go into this E3 assuming it’s all about the games. Spider-Man, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and God of War are all likely to be present; Death Stranding, unfortunately, will not be there. Maybe expect some new announcements, as Sony’s usually good for that.
Nintendo
- When: Tuesday, June 13 at 9am Pacific
- Stream: Nintendo’s Twitch channel
- Duration: 30 minutes
- What’s gonna happen: Who knows. Nintendo centered its entire E3 last year around one game and ended up stealing the show. That could happen again with Super Mario Odyssey. Whatever Nintendo has planned, it’ll probably end up with a successful E3.
