Microsoft is in the midst of a pretty significant news cycle around the Xbox platform, which is convenient, considering that it's got a big conference at E3 2015 in Los Angeles this afternoon at 12:30PM ET. Just last week, it announced a partnership with Oculus for the Rift, there's a better wireless controller for the Xbox One coming with a built-in headphone jack, more aggressive pricing, and a new version of the console with a built-in 1TB drive. That's a lot, and the E3 news hasn't even started yet.

Today, expect the focus to be on titles, with a few heavyweights in the mix: Gears of War 4, Halo 5, Forza Motorsport 6, and — the big one — Battletoads could all show up on stage. Oh, and there's a little thing called HoloLens cooking in Redmond's labs, and we still don't have a complete picture of how that device will fit into Microsoft's gaming ambitions, and on the Xbox One in particular. Sony has Project Morpheus coming, so between the Rift partnership and HoloLens, Microsoft is going on the VR / AR offensive.

Tune in, because this is going to be a big one.

Follow along with our live blog right here!

How to watch

Starting time: Los Angeles: 9:30AM / New York: 12:30PM / London: 5:30PM / Berlin 6:30PM / Moscow: 7:30PM / Beijing: 12:30AM (June 16th) / Tokyo: 1:30AM (June 16th) / Sydney 2:30AM (June 16th).

Live blog: Tune into The Verge live blog for up-to-the-second updates, commentary, and pictures directly from the venue.

Live streaming: Microsoft's live stream is available via a dedicated channel on the Xbox One or on Xbox.com. It can also be viewed on YouTube's E3 channel and on Twitch.

Event preview

Six things that will happen at E3 2015