Bethesda may be having a leaky E3 2017, depending on the outcome Bethesda’s E3 Showcase tonight of course. We know Bethesda is going to announce new games, yes games with an “s,” and that credible rumors have attached themselves to pearls of truth like barnacles in the belly of Far Harbor. Here are four surprises that won’t be so surprising come tomorrow.
Skyrim In Space!
Starfield sits at the top of the leak heap this week, promising to deliver that space game everyone seems to want but no one can get quite right (see: No Man’s Sky, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Star Citizen, etc) and what better tagline than “Skyrim in space.” Although I’m convinced you could say “Skyrim in soup” and people would give it a shot. But Starfield isn’t just a name, it’s a trademark that is owned by Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax Media Inc. It’s about three years old, and was renewed this past February.
Digging deep into the listing reveals all the action-RPG boilerplate you’d expect. “Electronic game programs” or “gaming player performance and statistics.” So it could be this thing. But it could be almost anything. Companies sit on trademarks for a long time, and Bethesda is known for it's “the game will be ready when it’s ready” approach to development. Fallout 4 took years, maybe Starfield does the same. There are more plausible leaks on the list.
READ: The No Man's Sky Walking Titan Mystery Grows
Storied Pomp
The Wolfenstein reboot from MachineGames released in 2014 and proved before DOOM that the acquisition of those storied id Software titles could really pan out for Bethesda. Wolfenstein: The New Order took big risks and scored more hits than misses. Solid DLC helped too. But it wasn’t a flawless game, although having rough edges gives you something to polish for the sequel. And based on an Amazon Germany leak, that sequel could very well be Wolfenstein: The New Colossus.
If it’s a phony leak then it’s a well researched one. Gamespot pointed out that The New Colossus is the title of the poem on the Statue of Liberty and gets recited in The New Order. The title also briefly appeared on a teaser screen during Bethesda’s E3 2016 presentation.
Is it legit? It certainly has a better chance than Starfield . Consider this one of the least surprising surprises in store tonight.
Skyrim In A Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland … In VR!
Yes, Fallout VR will have a robust showing during the Bethesda E3 Showcase tonight. I got my hands on an early version last year, and even for a brief encounter it felt pretty strong. The main issue, as with most VR action, was locomotion within the game. Lilypad jumping across Boston’s radioactive wastes didn’t have the same feel. If only there was a way to bring the familiarity of your home console into the new frontier of VR? Hmmm …
READ: Fallout VR Hands On Preview
PSVR could use Fallout VR, and Fallout VR could use PSVR. More importantly, Bethesda and Sony need to kiss and make up after the public kerfluffle over mods for Fallout 4. Giving Sony’s $300 peripheral a AAA game win would certainly help. Don’t forget about DOOM VR either. It was also on display last year and has likely come a long way too.
You Can Download It Now For Free
One of the most memorable Bethesda E3 moments was the announcement of Fallout Shelter , revealed and released in the same presentation. That kind of genuine excitement is pure gold during the E3 media blitz when the peak levels of hype and snark make it hard for even the most well-funded, carefully orchestrated messages to cut through. So I fully expect Bethesda to go big with an Elder Scrolls: Legends announcement and launch for iOS and Android phones tonight.
The game is already available on tablets, and the decision to withhold the mobile launch seems deliberately timed for this presentation. It is certainly something to look forward to if you’re a Bethesda fan or a fan of CCGs in general. I got mildly addicted to it last fall, and have been awaiting the mobile launch to give it another go. Bethesda has a great mobile track record thus far, and Legends could take it even farther.
Don't forget about that Skyrim for Switch title, either. Just in case you needed to think about a third-screen Bethesda experience.
You can watch the Bethesda E3 Showcase live online at 9:00 p.m. PDT tonight and see how wrong I was (or was I?).
