All the press E3 press conferences are over and the sense of tired relief from the GAMINGbible team who can now sleep at normal times is palpable. But, with the conferences over, we can take a moment to consider not the games we saw but the ones we didn't.
Leaving Sony aside, who didn't exhibit at E3 this year, there is a stack of announced games from the publishers who put on press conferences, that didn't get any time on stage. Here's what we know about their current state of development.
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Skull & Bones
Ubisoft's multiplayer versus game that sees you and your friends command a fleet of ships against another team of ships was first unveiled at E3 in 2017. That initial reveal was only a cinematic trailer but Ubisoft went deeper into Skull & Bones waters at E3 2018, where it showed off gameplay and another cinematic trailer. However, development hit choppy waters and its release has been pushed back to April 2020.
The team tweeted that Skull & Bones wouldn't be at E3, so they could focus on development:
We’re going to batten down the hatches and push back on the game’s arrival—this is a challenging news for us all, but it’s what’s needed to make Skull & Bones as awesome as it can be! Our focus remains on quality first and we’re grateful for your undying support ☠️⚔️
Age of Empires 4
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We know that Relic Games is making a new Age of Empires but all that Microsoft has shown so far is a teaser trailer that doesn't tell us anything about the game. We don't know what it looks like or even what time period it takes place in.
However, head of Xbox Phil Spencer has said that we'll hear more about Age of Empires 4 this year. Apparently, "good progress" is being made.
Gears Tactics
As a slew of Gears-related announcements at last year's E3, Microsoft revealed that Splash Damage was working on a turn-based XCOM-like spin on the series called Gears Tactics. Built for the PC, it was going to move the Gears games into a whole new genre and it looked like a really interesting game as a result. It was a no show at this year's E3 press conference, despite Gears of War 5 and Gears Pop!, the Funko Pops game, both making the bill.
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Worryingly, the official Gears Tactics page is literally just an embed of a clip of its announcement at E3 last year.
We've contacted Splash Damage's PR to get an update on the game's development.
Beyond Good & Evil 2
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Also announced back in 2017 (though there had long been rumours of its development), Beyond Good & Evil 2, the open world space game, gave this year's E3 a miss, too. Again, the reason was the team wanted to focus on development instead of prepping material for the press conference. Though, unlike Skull & Bones, the team did show off something of the game before E3. On June 5th Ubisoft Montpellier held a livestream of Beyond Good & Evil 2. While it gave an updated look at where the game is right now, it didn't reveal the much-anticipated release date.
Bayonetta 3
Announced at The Game Awards back in 2017, fans have been eagerly awaiting any news on Bayonetta 3 but it didn't appear in Nintendo's E3 Direct. PlatinumGames is working on a ton of titles at the moment - Astral Chain (which was shown in the Direct), Babylon's Fall, Lost Order, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and, of course, Bayonetta 3. So perhaps, the focus for the studio on Nintendo at the moment is Astral Chain and after that game's release it will start talking more openly about the current state of Bayonetta 3.
Starfield
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One of the headline announcements of last year's E3 was the official reveal of Starfield, the new sci-fi RPG from Bethesda Softworks. With Fallout 76 development being handled by a separate team, this is what the full-fat Bethesda team is working on - the team that made Fallout 4 and Skyrim.
Last year's announcement was a brief 30-second tease and only a few more details have been revealed by Todd Howard in interviews since then. However, while it is the next game from the Bethesda team, the developer said it wouldn't be showing it at the conference. In an interview with IGN, Howard said "Everyone should be very patient" and that the plan would be, like Fallout 4, to have a very short release window following its full public reveal.
The Settlers
Unlike Skull & Bones and Beyond Good & Evil 2, which were both announced ahead of E3 not to be on show at the press conference, fans of The Settlers were left in the lurch. Since its reveal last year, we haven't heard anything clarifying its 2019 release. Personally, I was looking forward to seeing something of the gentle strategy game in action.
Fans needn't be worried about its development, though. The Settlers Twitter account is pretty active, and just ahead of the conference there was a new blog post about quarries. So, Settlers is being very Settlers.
Babylon's Fall
Announced with an ambiguous trailer at last year's Square Enix press conference, Babylon's Fall is a title from PlatinumGames and that's about all we know. There isn't even a wikipedia entry for the game because besides the trailer there's been nout announced.
It's supposed to be out this year but you wouldn't be able to tell from its absence from Square's press conference. We've contacted Square Enix's PR to see if they can say if it's still in development and when we can expect to hear more about it.
The Elder Scrolls VI
Along with the Starfield announcement in 2018, Bethesda also confirmed that it's started work on The Elder Scrolls VI, the next in the series after Skyrim. Like Starfield, it only had a tease at last year's E3 - a 30-second panning short over some unidentifiable landscape. We don't know where the game will be set, when, or anything really about that much-anticipated RPG.
However, it could be quite a long time until we see it again. Bethesda has been open about its plans to release Starfield next, so until that game is out in the wild we shouldn't expect The Elder Scrolls VI. And, if Bethesda plans to have a similar marketing cycle before release, we might not see anything more of it for years to come.
Avatar (Massive Entertainment)
First announced way back in March 2017, we've heard nothing about Massive's Avatar project. The studio created job postings and has barely spoken about it since. Speaking in 2017, managing director David Polfeldt told IGN that we couldn't expect the game to release before 2020 which, at the time, felt like a long time away, but now seems awfully close.
Of course, with the next Avatar film not due out until December 2020, it may be we don't see anything more of the game until we see anything more of the film.
Metroid Prime 4
While Metroid Prime 4 could have been the perfect cap to Nintendo's E3 Direct they went for the equally impressive Breath of the Wild sequel. While there were rumours that Metroid would get its unveiling at this year's E3, I think it makes sense that Nintendo left it out of its livestream, it only announced five months ago that it had scrapped the game and started again from scratch. Nintendo is likely cautious about showing off anything more of the game if there's a chance that it might, once again, have to go back to the drawing board.
What game did you most want to hear about that failed to show up at this year's E3? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter. And, while you're at it, why not check out the GAMINGbible Snapchat?
Featured Image Credit: Bethesda Softworks