With E3 in the rearview, our team has gathered to discuss the games we DIDN’T see this year, much to our surprise (and sorrow).
E3 2021 has come and gone, and some of us feel a little empty inside because we had all this unintentional hype for our favorite franchises…. And then we got let down because our favorite games were not even talked about. While E3 brought us a rather large slate of titles to be excited for, here are some games we wish were included.
Dustin
Splinter Cell – I don’t know if Ubisoft is purposely ignoring us, or if the shell they live in just wont allow us to scream it loud enough. WE WANT SPLINTER CELL. Ubisoft had a rather lackluster line up and simply even hinting at Splinter Cell would have saved the day, but yet again (3 years now) we got nothing. This game was so heavily hyped and hinted at last year that it’s absolutely shocking that we still have not even heard of a leak…..
Beyond Good And Evil 2 – Speaking of Ubisoft….. Remember when we got that really cool Beyond Good and Evil 2 trailer a few years ago and we all got hyped that it actually exists? Well turns out it still doesn’t exist…..
Elder Scrolls 6 – It’s seriously been years of hints and trickery with this game ever since Bethesda showed us a teaser a few years ago. Then this year we had some really strong social network marketing, and then it just died leading into E3. Starfield is cool and all, but we want this. I mean come on, fans watched that Starfield trailer and within an hour were talking about clues it had for Elder Scrolls…. More importantly we want to know if we can enjoy it on PlayStation or not…..
Sons Of the Forest – Personally, I’m a big fan of The Forest, and the sequel is coming out later this year. Since it is so close to release I figured the game would be shown at E3 in some regard, most likely at the PC Gaming showcase, but it wasn’t there at all. The lack of marketing and promotions for the game is starting to lead me to believe I won’t be seeing it this year.
Perfect Dark / Fable – Xbox had a stellar showcase, but overall nothing I got too excited about. Maybe if Starfield actually had gameplay, I don’t know. However I was ready to get amped with Perfect Dark or Fable, these two games would make me go find an Xbox Series X in a heartbeat, but all we got was a quick nod.
Matt
Final Fantasy XVI – While I loved what Square Enix did with Guardians of the Galaxy and putting a good amount of resources into Final Fantasy, I was floored when Final Fantasy XVI didn’t make an appearance. This was by far my most anticipated game to see at the event. So, bummer.
They revealed the title last September and promised to share more details in 2021. So far, they haven’t and it seemed as if E3 would be where they would. It wasn’t. So the wait continues. In all likelihood, we’ll get an update this fall with an early 2022 release date. That’s my prediction, at least.
Forspoken – Another Square Enix title that wasn’t seen at E3 was their new title they built specifically for the PlayStation 5, Forspoken. Between this and Final Fantasy XVI, FF16 was still more of a surprise no show. Forspoken seems like a title that is still a ways away and we already received an update earlier this year. Still, it looks like it’ll be a major title for Square Enix so it would’ve been cool to see.
I could actually see both Forspoken and Final Fantasy XVI at Sony’s inevitable State of Play responding to what was shown at E3 2021 and Summer Game Fest. Could be wishful thinking, though.
Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League – Man, Warner Games was such a disappointment this year. Granted, they’ve never been one to showcase a ton of titles at E3. They’re usually all about 2 or 3. This year, there was only one, Back 4 Blood. That’s all well and good but it was a shame that we didn’t get updates for any LEGO games (cough cough Star Wars The Skywalker Saga) or Gotham Knights, but I was most bummed we had no gameplay for Suicide Squad.
Last year Warner Bros. debuted a really fun cinematic trailer for the game and I had hoped they would show gameplay, especially with the upcoming Suicide Squad releasing later this summer. They could’ve built excitement for each other. Clearly they weren’t confident in what they had to show, but it’s still a bummer.
Pragmata – Oh boy, Capcom. I wrote about in my Winners and Losers column that I did not like the fact that they held a press conference for the sake of holding a press conference. They didn’t really do or say much of anything significant when they had their time, which was really unfortunate.
What was really missing from their presentation was an update on Pragmata. It’s ok if they had no footage they were ready to show but maybe concept art or an interview with the devs to provide context. It’s an extremely intriguing title so anything would’ve been better than nothing if they’re going to hold a conference.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 – Beyond Good & Evil 2 started out so strong when they revealed it officially. Since 2017, it was trailer after trailer and update after update then suddenly it all stopped. It’s an uber-ambitious title, to be sure, but it’s a little strange that it’s been a number of years since there has been any real update on the space pirate game. I wonder if there had been no pandemic if Ubisoft would’ve had enough to show at E3 this year. Even still, Ubisoft loves them so developer interviews so why not have a representative come on and say, “we’re working hard on the game right now” *splice in footage of people working* “and we can’t wait to show you more soon.” It isn’t much but it’s at least something to make players hopeful.
Jordan
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – Considering the new LEGO Star Wars game was revealed during E3 2019 (Katy even sat in on a demo of it), and the game was given a 2020 release date before delayed into 2021, I’m REALLY surprised we weren’t given any updates on the title. Hell, it had a May 2021 release date (on GameStop marketing material and everything) that came and went without so much as a peep from the developers.
The silence around the game is strange and more than a bit disconcerting. Hell, at this point I’ve seen more gameplay thanks to a LEGO commercial on Nickelodeon than from the studio. E3 seemed like the perfect opportunity to alay fans’ fears and show off more of the game. Alas, the wait for more continues.
Star Wars Hunters – Speaking of Star Wars, I can’t believe we didn’t get a look at Star Wars Hunters. The game was revealed during a Nintendo Direct earlier this year and slated to drop at some point this Fall (as far as I know), and is set to be a more multiplayer driven type of game. I noticed the Trademarks for the game itself were recently updated just before E3, so it’s absence REALLY seemed shocking. I was hoping Nintendo’s E3 would provide an update, but it looks like fans are going to have to keep waiting for any Star Wars game news.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake – I know Ubisoft got ahead of the curve on this one and let everyone know beforehand that the Prince of Persia remake wouldn’t be shown at this year’s event, but that doesn’t stop the hurt. It’s easily one of the games I was most looking forward to seeing (I love the original) and the general lack of anything Prince of Persia related stuff over the last several years has made this wait even harder.
I know they’ve had some troubles during the production, which pushed it out of it’s January release date, but even a quick update on how those new changes are coming would have been nice. I didn’t even need a new trailer, just a chat with the developers about the progress to offer fans a peek inside.
Tomb Raider – Square Enix brought some good stuff to the show this year (though I needed Final Fantasy 7 Remake 2 news), but by the time the show ended, I was shocked that NOTHING from Tomb Raider was talked about. Earlier this year, they launched a handful of sites and things related to the franchise’s 25th Anniversary, promising a year of celebration. Yet, it didn’t even get so much as a mention during their presentation.
Hell, a Tomb Raider Collection was even leaked a little bit ago and it seemed like E3 would have been a sure bet to officially reveal it for fans. Happy anniversary, I guess?!
Firaxis/2K – While 2K took part in E3 by hosting a panel about Diversity in the gaming industry, they didn’t talk about any of the many games they have in development. Sure, they revealed Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (during Summer Game Fest), but we know there’s a whole bunch more they’re currently working on (including a new Bioshock).
Specifically, I was really hoping to see the next game that Firaxis is working on. They’re strategy games are always a treat and since the latest rumor had it that they were developing an XCOM style game set in the Marvel universe, I was crossing my fingers it’d be officially revealed here. Sadly, there was a whole lot of nothing, but hopefully I’ll get my strategy fix sooner rather than later.
SOLEB
Hellblade 2 – It’s been sometime since Hellblade 2 was announced, the reveal trailer had the internet booming the day it was released because of its amazing in-game trailer. With Xbox celebrating 20 years of the Xbox brand I really expected to see gameplay and a release date for Hellblade 2 during this year’s showcase. To my and many others’ surprise there wasn’t even a mention of its name during the broadcast.
Now, this past year has been very tough on development, so I can understand why the game hasn’t been talked about much but I was very sad to not even see it mentioned when the showcased featured games coming this year and in the future. It has been announced to be talked about in the Xbox Extended Showcase on the 17th, but I would be surprised if we a lot of information on the game.
Avowed – When it was first announced, I thought Avowed was Obsidian’s answer to the Elder Scrolls series, but now that Xbox owns both Obsidian and Bethesda, this will only add more store driven experiences to the companies already sprawling game line up. To my disbelief this is another big action adventure title that was not shown, or even listed, among the games coming soon for Xbox.
Originally announced in 2020, this game is set in the same world of Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity, so there is already a world and lore built around this game. . .so I’m really curious where this game is as of development. Obsidian has said that fans should be ready to see more of the game soon, but I think showing this game during E3 would have really set the bar for other developers to get the ball moving on their titles.
Scorn – Though I love horror games, most of the good ones creep me out enough to leave the lights on in my house all night. Scorn was announced during E3 2019 and is an Atmospheric First Person Horror game set in a world that looks like a nightmare universe created in Ridley Scott’s brain. This bloody mix of technology and organic material has always creeped me out and with the game coming this fall I really expected a release date drop and maybe some more gameplay, but yet again I was let down.
The Xbox Bethesda Showcase was amazing, don’t get me wrong, but with some of these titles set to release this year or early next year I wanted to see an overflow of gameplay during this press event. Hopefully we will get a set release date and gameplay soon.
Indiana Jones – I have always been a huge fan of this series, my brother and I used to watch the films every weekend back to back. When it was announced in 2021, I was very excited to see that Bethesda was making this game, especially with the background in lore/exploration titles, who knows what kinda worlds we will be walking into. Though we didn’t see a mention of the game during the conference, the new film is set to release in 2022. . .so I hope to get more news on this game.
Katy
Honestly my list will only be one game long because I always try to temper my expectations for E3 (especially this year).
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Developers said the game would have added content for at least two years and the game has been out just over one year. E3 would have been the perfect forum to announce big changes like adding Brewster to the game or adding aspects from previous games like Town Ordinances or Public Works Projects. I’m not feeling as doom-and-gloom as many I have seen on the internet since Tuesday’s Nintendo Direct, but I am more disappointed than I realized I would be.
Which video games were you expecting to see at this year’s E3? Which no-shows bummed you out the most? Be sure to let us know!
