This leaves us with Microsoft—and that’s where things get interesting. Unlike Nintendo, who don’t directly compete with PlayStation and Xbox, Microsoft’s Xbox and PlayStation are locked in a struggle for the same demographic. Microsoft fought well last generation, but completely screwed up at the start of this one, ceding all ground to their rival. But this generation is almost over, and the next one is coming up—and with Sony not being at E3 this year, Microsoft gets the stage to itself to go big and make an early impression in the impending war for gamers’ wallets next generation.

Given that Microsoft is a fair few laps behind the competition—their exclusives situation has been dire all generation, thanks to their lack of first party studios, which is what led to them losing to Sony (and pretty soon Nintendo too, at this rate), now is the chance for them to come out and make a statement that next generation will be different, that next generation, Xbox will be home to many must-play games that will be available only there, and no where else—making the next Xbox a console you must buy.

Which makes this prospect so exciting here—Microsoft now has the chance of coming out swinging this E3, precisely because they have everything to prove. What’s coming to the Xbox One is pretty much already established—we have Halo Infinite, Gears 5, Battletoads. But it’s what they could announce for the next Xbox that gets exciting.

Imagine Microsoft coming for the kill this E3–announcing maybe a couple of new major studio acquisitions. What studios that could entail is anyone’s guess (which is precisely what makes it so exciting), but follow that up with Microsoft making announcements regarding what the studios they have already purchased been working on since last year. Imagine them showing several exciting looking projects coming courtesy of these studios, exclusively to the next Xbox console. All of a sudden, Microsoft is in a far better position going into next gen than they are right now.

See, Microsoft is at a disadvantage relative to Sony and Nintendo—you know a Nintendo system will have Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Super Smash Bros., Metroid, and so on, so you can count on a certain degree of great support for it even before it is properly announced. Similarly, you know a PlayStation system will have Gran Turismo and other 1st party games on it, so you can count on a degree of great games for it right off the bat too. Microsoft as of right now does not have that luxury—this may well change if they cultivate their first party well through this coming generation, but for now, they don’t have this benefit. Which means that taking this time to actually give themselves the buffer of “these are the amazing games headed to our system” this E3, when there is no competition for the eyeballs from Sony, is going to benefit them immensely.

Microsoft also stands to gain further cachet for next generation here and now at E3. As I have mentioned previously, this is a chance for them to have a bit of a concrete reveal for the next generation Xbox, at the biggest venue for video games in the world. Imagine, them announcing some finalized specs for their next generation system, clarifying the kind of power gamers can expect from their next hardware; them announcing some games for this new system, that can be played only there, and nowhere else; and finally, them announcing new studio acquisitions, to further fuel the output of games for this system, games that will be available nowhere else.

It could be a slam dunk—especially since, again, Microsoft has the stage to itself. Nintendo is doing its own thing, and Sony, their major competitor in this arena, isn’t there at all, having ceded the ground to Microsoft completely. Throw in a few great announcements and showings for games coming within the next year or so for Xbox—the aforementioned Halo and Gears should be great, alongside some third party games such as DOOM Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077, and maybe whatever Capcom has planned for the upcoming year—and it’s a great show. It’s jam packed, full of announcements about the current and upcoming generation, and by sheer lack of competition, it means Microsoft dominates the news cycle this E3.

Of course, Microsoft could still mess things up. Nintendo especially is a major wild card, and they may well have a few game announcements or showings that are out of the left field, but so compelling that they take the discourse by storm. Even not accounting for Nintendo doing especially well, Microsoft themselves could completely fumble the ball, which, given that they have only had one good E3 in the last five years or so, has high chances of happening.

But right now, it’s hard to imagine Microsoft messing this up in any meaningful way. Right now, it seems like Xbox may well walk away the undisputed crowned winner of E3 this year. In more ways than I can emphasize, the game is Microsoft’s to lose this year.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The game had successfully crossed over two generations of consoles, a plethora of mods, a full on remaster, and even a switch version. So with Skyrim being milked for much longer than any other game of that type in recent history, it’s more than reasonable for fans of the franchise to be expecting a new legitimate iteration. Thankfully, we do appear to be getting what we want with a proper Elder Scrolls 6 sometime in the future. The world was alerted to this fact via a 37-second teaser trailer shown at Bethesda’s E3 conference last month, and as to be expected, the trailer was pretty cool. Unfortunately it didn’t really seem to serve much of a purpose other than to let us know that the next game was coming.

Many noted the vagueness of the trailer right off the bat. No characters were revealed, no voices or hints at a plot, either. Hell, even the title reveal lacked the subtitle that Elder Scrolls fans are used to with these games that go all the way back to Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall. Elder Scrolls 3 was Morrowind, Elder Scrolls 4 was Oblivion, and Elder Scrolls 5 was Skyrim, so what will Elder Scrolls 6 be? Where will it take place? What will it be like? As much as everyone enjoyed seeing the trailer, and rightfully so, we just don’t have solid answers to any of these questions from what we were given. Surely this isn’t an accident.

It’s pretty difficult to say anything for sure, but one cane make some logical assumptions about general concepts that the game seems to be adopting. Firstly, As the trailer does begin with the camera taking us through billowing clouds and mist, the first thing that is made readily apparent is the enormous scale. Yes, Elder Scrolls games are generally quite big so thats not a very risky assumption, but it looks like the developers are well aware of games that have challenged Skyrim in terms of scope over the years like Witcher 3, and they intend to reclaim the throne of vastness and monumental scale. This makes a lot of sense for Bethesda to want to do, since the never-ending arms race of which game has the biggest open-world environment is often reinvigorated every time an elder scrolls game comes out.

Another notable moment was when the fog cleared, and the vast world could be seen. Granted this is a cinematic trailer and probably not in-game footage, but the amount of variety in the landscapes that we’re seeing here certainly stood out to many and it appears that Elder Scrolls 6 is going to continue to raise the stakes when it comes to diverse locations, topography and overall size. Caves, lakes, mountains, forrests, pennensulas, towns, and even what appears to be an ocean front can be clearly seen in the main shot of the trailer. The fact that they went out of their way to display this variety of landscapes should indicate that variety is indeed something we should expect with respect to the locations we can travel to in the new game, and thats a good thing. Many games have strived to achieve the diversity that Skyrim did, and it’s true that several games have, so it would make plenty of sense for Bethesda to want to one-up all of the massive open-world RPGs that have come and gone in the post-Skyrim world.

The music also brought in the familiar melody that Elder Scrolls fans have been hearing for years now. But it’s clearly a re-recording of the recognizable tune, with more emphasis on beartone and bass brass instruments, giving the theme more depth and power than the way it sounded in Skyrim. So, based on this, it’s probably more than safe to bet on a killer score to accompany our travels through the world. Perhaps some new tunes could steal the show for the audio. We’ll have to keep our ears open as more footage of the game becomes available. I’m sure many memorable sweeping moments of auditory bliss are on the way.

Also, as I mentioned before, we don’t have a subtitle. No location name. I would be shocked if there just wasn’t one though, so the logical conclusion we can make at this point is that a subtitle is being held back for whatever reason. Perhaps one isn’t even selected yet? If thats the case, then maybe Elder Scrolls 6 is much further off than we would like, this would be in direct contrast with the marketing cycle that Bethesda has been adopting with their games lately though. Wolfenstein 2, Prey, and The Evil Within 2 were all announced within a reasonable amount of time of their launch, so perhaps this bit of information is still up in the air, and maybe a location and subtitle are indeed decided upon, but are just being held back for other reasons. Again, only time will tell, but many theories are already popping up that put the game’s primary setting in Hammerfell, as the layout of that particular land does have multiple similarities to what we’re seeing on screen in the trailer.

Again this is all speculation on our part, as trailers like this are meant to be glanced at for the masses and picked apart by journalists, pundits, and hardcore fans. One thing is for sure though; we all have plenty of reasons to be excited for the next edition of this long-running series. The Elder Scrolls games tend to serve as major benchmarks that other games strive to meet for years after their release, and most of them fall short. They stand the test of time for years and inspire many other great worlds into existence. So for another entry of this franchise to be on the way should fill all gamers with hope and excitement for the future.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

But announcing the setting up, or acquisition, of five new studios? In a move that doubles the portfolio of Microsoft Game Studios? Okay, yes, that was a big move. It was Microsoft targetting their greatest weakness as a platform holder straight up- “yes, we hear you. Our first party has been lacking. Here’s us fixing it”.

So they have five new studios- four they bought, and one brand new one they set up. This is good- but this also means that for the first time in years, there is a sense of unpredictability to Microsoft’s lineup. While what third parties they may partner with to bring (usually timed) exclusive content to their system has always been a tad up in the air, for the first time, what first party games they may announce is a question that can’t be answered fully.

"For the first time in years, there is a sense of unpredictability to Microsoft’s lineup."

But let’s take stock of the situation first. Microsoft has ten studios at the moment- Turn10, Mojang, Rare, 343 Industries, The Coalition, Compulsion, The Initiative, Playground Games, Undead Labs, and Ninja Theory. Of these, we already know what five of them are working on- Turn10 is working on the next mainline Forza, Mojang is perennially on Minecraft duty, Rare presumably continues to support Sea of Thieves for the time being, 343 Industries is working on Halo Infinite, and The Coalition is working on new fewer than three new Gears of War games, including Gears 5.

Among the studios Microsoft has bought up, Compulsion will presumably work on getting We Happy Few out, and support it a bit post launch, and Undead Labs will presumably work at least somewhat on State of Decay 2 post launch support. But it is hugely unlikely that Microsoft bought these studios to let them just support their existing product and make nothing new for the next few months. No, it’s pretty likely that both studios will soon begin to work on something new, and even that they will presumably expand. But what might those games be? Of course, it is impossible to tell- Compulsion have put out a total of two games in their history, and the one common thread across those two is that they have a disturbing atmosphere. So presumably, they work on something that plays to those strengths, but with a higher budget, next.

Undead Labs, on the other hand, have literally only ever worked on the State of Decay franchise. So what they could work next on is anybody’s guess. It could well be a third, full budget State of Decay game. Or, on the other hand, it could be something entirely new, at which point I have no idea what I could possibly attribute to them.

"When Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft has acquired the studio, he confirmed that they are working not just on Forza Horizon 4, which is due out this year, but that they are also bringing their open world expertise to an entirely new game in a new genre."

The next few Microsoft studios are more interesting to consider. First up- Playground Games. These folks have won a lot of acclaim and carved out a place for themselves in the industry thanks to their sheer talent, and their work on the Forza Horizon franchise, which includes Forza Horizon 3, Microsoft’s highest rated and highest selling game of the generation. When Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft has acquired the studio, he confirmed that they are working not just on Forza Horizon 4, which is due out this year, but that they are also bringing their open world expertise to an entirely new game in a new genre.

Now, we already know that this new game is an open world action RPG, and rumors have pegged it to be a new Fable game, made in the vein of Horizon and Zelda, so Microsoft have a single player epic of their own to stand alongside Nintendo and Sony. Which is great. And probably also what we can expect from the studio in the coming years.

Ninja Theory, on the other hand, is a blank book. Here’s a studio that has worked only on single player action games ever- something Microsoft sorely lacks- now under Microsoft’s umbrella. Presuming their next game is also a single player action game, much like Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, and Hellblade were, we can expect a high quality action game – probably higher quality than any of their previous efforts, thanks to the full backing of Microsoft Game Studios, the kind of financial net that they have otherwise never had – and therefore, a new game that fills a niche in Microsoft’s lineup that has otherwise never been filled before. This is truly exciting- whatever their new game is, however, it probably won’t come for a while.

"Presuming their next game is also a single player action game, much like Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, and Hellblade were, we can expect a high quality action game – probably higher quality than any of their previous efforts, thanks to the full backing of Microsoft Game Studios."

And then there is The Initiative- this is a brand new studio that Microsoft has set up in Santa Monica, and the announcement was accompanied by many proclamations about them wanting the studio to create new worlds and tell new stories. Now this part right here is good- it seems to indicate that the new game by this studio may be a single player experience (though, of course, that’s not necessary- but on the other hand, Microsoft does already have a multiplayer FPS, third person shooter, racing sim, arcade racer, shared world looter, as well as an upcoming multiplayer action adventure game, plus upcoming multiplayer strategy games- there’s not many multiplayer niches left for them to fill). We have literally no idea what they will be working on, we have no idea what we might expect from them- but we can very categorically hope that it will be a brand new single player franchise from the studio, and that it is extremely high quality, especially given the talent behind it.

So there we are- we can expect a new action game, a new action RPG, and three completely new, unexpected games from Microsoft, not counting Gears 5, Halo Infinite, Forza 7, Forza Horizon 4, Crackdown 3, ongoing support for State of Decay 2, Minecraft, and Sea of Thieves, as well as games such as Gears Tactics and Age of Empires 4. That’s a good slate of games right there- it’s still not on Sony’s level (let alone Nintendo), but it’s a good start.

Now here’s the thing- Gears 5, Halo Infinite, Crackdown 3, and both Forza games? We can expect these to hit the Xbox One family, and soon. On the other hand, those new games by the new studios? I think those are going to be specifically used to bolster the Xbox One successor, and give it a strong start, the kind that the Xbox One was sorely lacking. Microsoft has addressed all the perception problems the Xbox One suffered from, and going forward, they have a wave of goodwill they are riding, except one: the problem of games. Xbox’s lineup is viewed as inferior to PlayStation’s, and by saving a bunch of new and hopefully exciting seeming games for the next Xbox’s reveal, alongside Halo, Gears, and Forza, hopefully Microsoft will be able to give the next generation Xbox the fighting chance the Xbox One never had.

Whatever it turns out to be, they are making an effort now- and I have to give them credit, a lot of credit, for doing so. Now let’s just hope their move pays off. More great games is, in the end, only going to benefit us as gamers.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced this E3, but, uncharacteristically enough, it was announced without a subtitle- which also means we don’t know where exactly in Tamriel the game might be set. Is that for a reason? Is it possible the trailer just went with a generic fantasy landscape, and that the final location where the game is set might not have been decided yet?

According to Todd Howard of Bethesda, nope. The location has been decided- and while he won’t confirm what it is, it actually should be possible for you to be able to determine what it is by looking at the trailer, he confirmed in an interview with Eurogamer.

“I obviously would say yes [you can guess the location],” he said, “but you can’t – it’s intentionally… You can rule some things out. And you can rule some things in.”

He also explicitly confirmed that the location of the game has been decided- that it was, in fact, decided a while ago. “The first thing we do is the world so we’ve known for a while where it’s set,” he said.

So that’s good to know- except, well, we don’t actually know, so there is that. Regardless, it is clear that Howard and Bethesda have a vision for The Elder Scrolls 6- they apparently know when it will release, and where it will be set. It may be a while from launch, but at least we have the comfort of knowing that it is coming, and that Bethesda knows what it is doing with it.

Until this year, Bethesda had a modus operandi- they would announce games just a few months away, and then release them after a short hype cycle. They’d done it with Skyrim, Fallout 4, they had done it with games like Wolfenstein 2, The Evil Within 2, and Prey. But this year, they mixed things up when they announced Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6– both “next generation games” by their own admission, and years away- way ahead of time.

So, uh- why do that? Why, exactly, did Bethesda break the trend and announce these games so early? Was it to finally shut up the people who have been hounding them about these two games (especially The Elder Scrolls 6)? According to Todd Howard, it was to reassure fans- Bethesda, announcing Fallout 76, an online game, and The Elder Scrolls Blades, a mobile game, wanted to reassure fans that the kinds of games they love- epic single player RPGs- are still coming.

“That was a debate, ‘Should we do this?'” said Howard, in an interview with Eurogamer. “There were two things in our heads about that. One, we’re going to E3 and showing a new Fallout game  which is very different than we usually do, and then we’re going to show you an Elder Scrolls game that is very different than we would usually do, and if we leave it just at that, our fans are like, ‘… – Are you still going to do the things I love?’

“We had already said publicly, ‘We are eventually going to do Elder Scrolls 6 but we have these other projects…’ and we felt like we would be saying that same thing right after E3 at something like this [Gamelab], so let’s make sure our fans know this is coming, and in what order. They don’t know what years – we have some ideas but we’re not positive either – but ‘here are the things we’re going to be doing’.”

He pointed out that the development of both games, Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, was already public knowledge, and people had been speculating on both games for a very long time- so it was better to just formalize the whole thing by officially announcing them.

“It’s better to say we’re making it. It makes life a little bit easier for us. [If we didn’t say anything] they would be disappointed and they’d still ask ‘What about Starfield?’ and ‘What about Elder Scrolls 6?’. But it’s also exciting! We’re excited; we want to share it with everybody.

“The negative is,” he added, “are we distracting from what we’re putting out now? But people get it. Let’s just be upfront – this is what we’re doing, when, and in what order.”

I really like shorter hype cycles, but I get why Bethesda felt they had to do what they did- and I empathize. And, maybe this is a bit hypocritical in this case, but I actually am glad they did. It may just be a logo, but The Elder Scrolls 6 is already one of my most anticipated upcoming games now.