Continuing with the E3 hype, our next conference to hype up is Ubisoft’s which takes place Monday June 15th.
Ubisoft have absolutely killed it the past 3 E3’s recruiting Aisha Tyler to lead the conference presentation bringing humour to the show. And they’ve also been bringing the games in previous years with the now infamous “one last thing” line finishing the show to reveal new games we’d heard nothing about. 2012 bringing us Watch Dogs, 2013 The Division and last year the reintroduction to the popular Tom Clancy series Rainbow Six Siege.
So what can we expect this year?
Well you can bet your mortgage that we’ll see Assassins Creed: Syndicate at E3. Quite possibly as the game that starts the show off.
As we normally get at Ubisoft show’s we’ll probably get a dancing segment and a little (hopefully only little) look at Just Dance 2016.
The Division will feature again and be making it’s 3rd E3 appearance. While I appreciate Ubisoft for their surprise reveals at the end of their shows, They need to work on quicker turnarounds for these surprises. By the time Watch Dogs did eventually launch it felt like the game was really old. And While The Division looks nothing short of spectacular it’s, a game making it’s 3rd E3 appearance is really somewhat frustrating. But hopefully this is the final year it features and the launch is nailed on and confirmed.
Rainbow Six Siege has been a much better surprise reveal in that it was shown off last e3, and will be hitting our consoles 18 months after that appearance.
So those are the dead certainties out of the way, but what next? Last year Ubisoft also had Far Cry 4, The Crew and the outstanding Valiant Hearts on offer to bolster the conference. Those games have all been and gone now, so there’s a lot of space to fill.
I’d like to see Ubiart’s next project given how fantastic Valiant Hearts was. Hopefully what ever they’ve been working on gets a reveal this E3.
We can pretty much guarantee that they’ll close the show out with a reveal of a new game, and this is where it gets tricky… Just what will that new game be?
I’m torn between 3 options.
1 – Beyond Good and Evil 2
2 – Watch Dogs 2
3 – New Splinter Cell title
I think it’s inevitable that we’ll get another Watch Dogs game. It may be a different City and protagonist but given how well Watch Dogs sold despite some less favorable feedback about it Ubisoft like to get franchises built and I think this will be a new title to their stable. I think this is the least likely to be shown as the surprise game though. Given that the first one is still fresh on our minds given it’s a year old. There would be no wow factor to save this for last, unless of course it looked absolutely mind blowing. Likely we’ll see or at least hear something Watch Dogs related, but not the game that’ll close the show.
Splinter Cell has yet to be confirmed for the new generation of consoles, but this isn’t a new generation anymore. These consoles are approaching their 2nd birthdays so established franchises from the previous generation if they are to come to our new consoles surely can’t be far off. So I think Splinter Cell will find it’s way to the PS4/XboxOne, but again I don’t think it’ll be the finishing game of the show as that’ll mark 3 years in a row where a Tom Clancy title closes the show out. It’ll feel a bit too much of the same.
Beyond Good and Evil was a bit of a fan favourite. I can say I’ve never played the game and can’t quite see the hype about it. But people do genuinely adore it and are begging for a sequel. I think given the fanbase and the fan fair about Ubisoft’s closing game, this will be it. The crowd in the conference hall will be the type of crowd to let out an audible reaction to the reveal. It’s been teased for years that it’s in the works. And I think 2015 E3 will be the year we get the confirmation of it’s existence.
So to summarize then…
Dead Certainties:
- Assassins Creed: Syndicate
- The Division
- Rainbow 6 Siege
- Just Dance
- UbiArt title
The Likely:
- Splinter Cell PS4/XB1
- Watch Dogs 2
The Potential Show Closer:
- Beyond Good and Evil 2
Let’s see how wrong I get all of this.
– Murr
