In the last few years E3 has been a bit of a flop. The importance of the show has lessened and fewer people place importance on it, instead focusing on Gamescom. Of course this is my personal opinion, however Xbox Head Phil Spencer seems to be on a mission to fix this, focusing more on 1st party content and new IP’s as much as possible.
As per usual, Spencer was on Twitter using the time to talk with fans and answer questions about anything E3 related that they was thrown his way. When asked if there would be any DX12 specific games shown at E3, Spencer replied, “This time of year is tough, I really can’t talk about what we’ll have at E3. We are still building our plan for E3, sorry.”
Despite not having a plan in place yet for the show, he will be spending today reviewing a content plan, having told a Twitter user, “Tomorrow is a full day content review for E3, looking at everything we might show. Some of the best work days, inspiring.” Like mentioned above, Gamescom is quickly becoming the preferred venue, it’s unsurprising that Phil had this to say, “With these two only 5 weeks apart this year we are planning both at the same time.”
Luckily, this year we can expect to see something new from Xbox, rather than rehashes of established properties. Talking about the line up, Phil said, “We should have new exclusive IP at E3. I’m trying to make this E3 more about 1st party than past E3s.” Though he did later say that this 1st party and new exclusive IP feature wouldn’t be replacing the 3rd party support, saying, “And to be clear we will have 3rd party deals, it’s just, imo, important to focus on and support our 1st party.”
When asked if there would be more gameplay than CG trailers at E3, Spencer thankfully replied with a concise, “Yes.” There’s also going to be more cross-play on shown, and he has no comment on Gears of War at this time.
@Tyler_Martin1 This time of year is tough, I really can't talk about what we'll have at E3. We are still building our plan for E3, sorry.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 19, 2015@D3monWo1f Tomorrow is full day content review for E3, looking at everything we might show. Some of the best work days, inspiring.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 19, 2015@chobel_gaf With these two only 5 weeks apart this year we are planning both at the same time.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 19, 2015@Masih3KA We should have new exclusive IP at E3. I'm trying to make this E3 more about 1st party than past E3s.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 19, 2015@bmuny101 @aceitman @Masih3KA And to be clear we will have 3rd party deals, it's just, imo, important to focus on and support our 1st party.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 19, 2015@iamironwolf You will see more cross-play play for use, no comment on Gears.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 19, 2015@Dg20David I see this game more than most, the Xbox team sits right down the hall, I think they are tired of me grabbing the controller.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 19, 2015