Microsoft skipped gimmicks for games at this year's Xbox E3 Briefing, mostly focusing on the beefy specs of the $499 Xbox One X (rip scorpio) and dozens of titles including 22 console exclusive announcements ranging from AAA dreams come true like Crackdown 3 to hypetrain indies like Cuphead. Fans also got the reveal of Ubisoft's new assassin's creed game and a long look at BioWares new Destiny killer, Anthem . Some more backwards compatibility features and a universal crossplay project for Minecraft delivered a little Microsoft flex for good measure. Without a doubt it was the most games focused E3 we've seen yet, but will it be enough for Microsoft to close the ever widening sales gap between Xbox and PlayStation?
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I don't think Microsoft is thinking that way. This year seemed as focused on the passionate Xbox fans as any other, with a front and center section full of cheering influencers in swag shirts adding atmosphere to punctuate major announcements. Microsoft is wisely playing to it's base by delivering talking points for the ongoing PS4 vs Xbox One debates. Xbox One X is, unequivocally, the most powerful console on the market now. Not that it’s an apples to apples comparison given that most players are still on the launch hardware for both systems, but now Microsoft fans can say they have the best and it's better than having to say the alternative.
The buzz around Microsoft’s games seems to be mostly positive, but I’m writing this in the lull between the press conferences so the mood could shift after we see what Sony has to say. But as my colleague Scott Craft pointed out to me earlier, there was hardly any of the typical alpha male shooter stuff that’s been dominant in recent years. No Call of Duty. No Battlefield. No Halo. No Gears. Are the E3 press events finally reflecting the tastes of the average gamer instead of what’s on a sales sheet? It’s about time.
One glaring omission from the Xbox E3 Briefing was VR. Is this another trend whose time basking in the sunshine of unearned hype as passed? I’ve never been too enthused about the current state of VR, at least not to the degree the industry was a year or two ago. Sony will certainly support PSVR during its press event, but I thought it odd the “VR Ready” Xbox One X didn’t get a VR mention at all. Especially in light of the Mixed Reality messaging prevalent in Microsoft’s education conference earlier this year. The Hololens Minecraft table was a showstopper in 2016, and now VR isn’t even mentioned in a broadcast inflated to 90 minutes.
All in all, it was the Xbox E3 Briefing fans have been asking for. Almost entirely focused on games, plenty of exclusives and world premiere reveals to make it worth watching. Microsoft wanted its fans to feel special this year, because it knows those same fans will decide the fate of Xbox One X when it releases on November 7.
