The winners and losers of E3 2018, the biggest video game event of the year
Winner: The Sony-backed studios making PlayStation 4 exclusives
Upcoming PS4 exclusives "Spider-Man," "Ghost of Tsushima," and "The Last Of Us Part II" all look incredible, and it goes to show what studios can do when they have the support of a major studio like Sony.
Sony put Insomniac Games in charge of "Spider-Man," Sucker Punch is developing "Ghost of Tsushima," and Naughty Dog is leading the way on "The Last Of Us Part II," but what's impressive is how all three of these games already show the level of polish fans have come to expect from a PlayStation 4 exclusive. The future of the PS4 looks very bright thanks to these studios.
Loser: Sony
Despite the incredible-looking games coming from Sony-backed studios, Sony itself came off looking not so great after E3. Its press conference featured a big intermission that many fans say ruined the flow of the show, and made its later announcements feel less exciting.
Later in the week, Sony got into hot water when many of the the 2+ million people who downloaded "Fortnite" for the Nintendo Switch in its first 24 hours of availability found they couldn't play on both a PlayStation 4 and the Switch, and would have to choose one or the other — at least, if they want to keep their purchased items.
Now, Sony is facing a great deal of pressure from fans and even rival companies to provide cross-play for games like "Fortnite" — that is, the ability for PlayStation 4 gamers to play with people on other platforms. Microsoft and Nintendo have made great strides in cross-play, with "Minecraft" and "Fortnite" letting Microsoft Xbox One and Nintendo Switch owners play together.
Frustrations with Sony over the topic are bubbling all over social media. A senior Xbox exec even tweeted his fans asking who would want to play Destiny across Xbox and PlayStation. And Microsoft's Xbox UK account also sent this cheeky tweet:
@NintendoUK wanna play some Fortnite later?
— Xbox UK (@xboxuk) June 12, 2018Winner: "Super Smash Bros" fans
Nintendo spent 24 of the 42 total minutes of its E3 presentation to talk about "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," its mascot-versus-mascot fighting game coming to the Nintendo Switch on December 7.
Fans knew before E3 that "Super Smash Bros." would be Nintendo's focus at the event, and Nintendo lived up to that promise by introducing plenty of details about the new game. But Nintendo went a step further and paid homage to the game's biggest fans by bringing back every character from past "Super Smash Bros." games, including characters that only appeared once, as well as fan-favorite stages and items.
Nintendo also made some in-game tweaks that "Smash" fans asked for, like shorter Final Smash moves and small changes to the intricacies of combat. The game will even support GameCube controllers, a nod to people who play "Smash Bros." in competitive tournaments. If you loved "Smash Bros." before E3, Nintendo's presentation was directed right at you.
Loser: Nintendo 3DS owners
Despite the success of the Nintendo 3DS, the company didn't make a single mention of its popular handheld device during its 42-minute presentation at E3 2018. That's gotta sting if you shelled out $160 recently to pre-order that awesome Hylian Shield 2DS XL.
Winner: Microsoft
Microsoft's been getting a bad rap lately for not having the kind of exclusive games on the Xbox One that Sony has with the PlayStation 4. If you want top-flight games like "God of War" and "Horizon Zero Dawn," you need an xBox One.
At E3 2018 though, between it, Sony, and Nintendo, Microsoft arguably had the strongest presentation. Microsoft showed off new games in the popular "Halo," "Forza," and "Gears of War" franchises, sequels to popular indie titles like "Ori," and notably was the lucky company to premiere the first footage from "Cyberpunk 2077," the new game from acclaimed developers CD Projekt Red, at its press conference.
Between those games, and Microsoft's investment in new games with the announcement of five new game studios, Xbox owners should be very happy with what they saw at E3 2018.
Loser: People who wanted new games in 2018
The biggest game announced at E3 that's actually coming this year is probably "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," which arrives December 7. Most of the best-looking games we saw at E3 are launching in 2019 or later.
— "Kingdom Hearts 3" was delayed out of 2018, and will now be released on January 29, 2019.
— The "Resident Evil 2" remake arrives in January 2019.
— "Anthem," "Metro Exodus," and "Crackdown 3" all arrive in February 2019.
— "Ori and the Will of the Wisps," "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice," "Devil May Cry 5," "Battletoads," and "Gears of War 5" will all arrive at some point in 2019.
— We have no idea when "Halo Infinite," "Doom Eternal," "The Last of Us II," "Beyond Good and Evil 2," "The Elder Scrolls VI," "Death Stranding," or "Cyberpunk 2077" will come out.
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