Ahead of this year’s E3 conference, a number of game studios and publishers announced news that, in years past, would typically have been reserved for the big press conference keynotes. That left many wondering whether there would be any substantial surprises in store for fans and critics who were tuning into the industry’s biggest annual gathering here in Los Angeles.
The best of E3 2018
Thankfully, it was a show jam-packed with news. Nearly every press conference contained an eye-popping number of big reveals, new trailers, and confirmed release dates. And beyond the slew of keynote headlines, a number of big narratives came together. Fans were displeased and intrigued by the possibilities of an online-only Fallout. Electronic Arts took a stand to quell gamer backlash toward Battlefield V. And Sony is still grappling with a massive controversy over its decision to block PS4 Fortnite accounts on Nintendo Switch devices.
By now, the show has wound down, but the best part about E3 is that a vast majority of what we see here is either in its earliest stages or still quite a few months away from release. That means it’s just the beginning for fan favorites like CD Projekt Red’s futuristic RPG Cyberpunk 2077, Naughty Dog’s brutal revenge tale The Last of Us Part II, and Hideo Kojima’s bizarre and haunting Death Stranding. In the coming months, expect to hear plenty more about titles like BioWare’s Anthem, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts III that are slated for release in late 2018 or early 2019.
There’s always too much to play and not enough time. But for those who want to at least read all the news from E3 2018, we’ve collected all the best announcements and trailers for the most anticipated titles, as well as all the news, hands-on reports, interviews, and analyses from the show floor.
Microsoft Xbox E3 2018 press conference
- Microsoft is building a game streaming service and new Xbox consoles
- Microsoft teases Halo Infinite for Xbox One and Windows 10
- Gears 5 launches next year on Xbox One and PC
- Gears of War is getting a Funko Pop-themed mobile spinoff
- Cyberpunk 2077 looks incredible
- See the first gameplay for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, from the developers of Dark Souls
- The first trailer for Devil May Cry 5 brings back your favorite platinum-haired demon-hunting family
- There’s a new Battletoads game on the way
- Jump Force is an all-star mashup of Dragonball, Naruto, One Piece, and Death Note
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps is coming in 2019, and it looks magical
- New Life is Strange game, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, is coming June 26th
Sony E3 2018 press conference
- Watch the very first gameplay trailer for The Last of Us Part II
- Spider-Man for PS4 shows off its open-world web-swinging in new trailers
- Death Stranding’s gruesome new trailer has babies, toenails, and actual gameplay
- Watch the first gameplay trailer for PS4 exclusive Ghost of Tsushima
- The Resident Evil 2 remake is coming on January 25th
Nintendo E3 2018 press conference
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will feature every single character from the series’ history
- Watch 25 minutes of Nintendo explaining what makes Super Smash Bros. Ultimate different
- Metroid’s Ridley is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Switch
- Super Mario Party might be the most creative Switch game yet
- Fortnite is now available on the Nintendo Switch
Electronic Arts E3 2018 press conference
- Watch the trailer for Battlefield V, now with a battle royale mode
- BioWare’s Anthem launches February 22nd, 2019
- New game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will let you play a Jedi
- Sea of Solitude’s haunting trailer is about humans who turn into monsters
- Adorable yarn-based platformer Unravel has a sequel, and it’s out today
Ubisoft E3 2018 press conference
- Jade makes an ominous return in Beyond Good & Evil 2
- The Division 2 brings the apocalypse to Washington, DC
- Ubisoft announces Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, set in ancient Greece
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey steps in with the romance options Anthem lacks
- Starlink features Nintendo Switch’s first wacky peripheral
- Star Fox will be a Switch-exclusive playable character in Starlink: Battle for Atlas
Bethesda E3 2018 press conference
- Watch the first gameplay trailer for Fallout 76
- Fallout 76 is an online-only survival game coming out on November 14th, 2018
- Fallout 76’s multiplayer will let you nuke other people’s bases
- Fallout 76’s collector’s edition comes with a wearable power armor helmet
- Bethesda teases The Elder Scrolls VI
- The next Elder Scrolls game is a beautiful mobile RPG named Blades
- Bethesda announces Starfield, its long-rumored sci-fi adventure
- Doom Eternal is a sequel to 2016’s amazing reboot
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood stars B.J. Blazkowicz’s twin daughters killing Nazis in 1980s Paris
- Watch 7 minutes of Rage 2’s intense Mad Max-style action
Hands-on
- Cyberpunk 2077 is part RPG, part shooter, part GTA-style mayhem
- Spider-Man on PS4 nails the most important thing: web-swinging
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider finds Lara Croft deadlier than ever — and reckoning with her power
- Pokémon: Let’s Go is a simple game improved by its pricey pokéball controller
- Starlink is like a kid-friendly No Man’s Sky with awesome spaceship toys
- Five new things we learned about The Division 2 today
- Destiny 2’s Gambit mode is the kind of innovative, intense fun the game needs right now
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is even more of a traditional RPG than last year’s Origins
- Sable looks like a Moebius comic and plays like Breath of the Wild
Interviews
- Microsoft’s big plan to turn Gears of War into the next Halo
- The Last of Us Part II will be a tale of revenge, its director says
- Naughty Dog explains how it made that Last of Us II kiss look so real
- Why Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was such a daunting game for its creators to build
- Why Metroid Prime 4 wasn’t at E3 this year
- EA on the backlash against women in Battlefield V: ‘Accept it or don’t buy the game’
- Here’s what we know about Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s new battle royale mode
- How a tweet brought cult classic Metal Wolf Chaos back to life 15 years later
- Even Kingdom Hearts’ creator gets a little confused about the story sometimes
- Kingdom Hearts III’s director says he’s putting equal effort into Final Fantasy VII Remake
- The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit will pick up three years after Life is Strange
News
- Fallout 76 sparks more fan anxiety about direction of series
- Fans think West Virginia urban legend Mothman is in Fallout 76
- Pokémon: Let’s Go’s pokéball controller costs $50, but it comes with a free Mew
- Disney says it didn’t censor a gay kiss at E3
- Fans think PT lives on in new Death Stranding footage
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will support GameCube controllers
- Smash Bros. Ultimate fans can’t stand Snake’s redesigned butt
- Sony is blocking Fortnite cross-play between PS4 and Nintendo Switch players
- Fortnite fans are furious at Sony for ruining their handheld dreams
- Sony issues weak response to Fortnite cross-play controversy on PS4 and Switch
- Netflix is getting Minecraft: Story Mode later this year
Reports & Analysis
- The 10 biggest stories of E3 2018
- The 25 best game trailers from E3 2018
- 10 things we learned about Fallout 76
- Microsoft is getting ready for the next Xbox vs. PlayStation console war
- Sony’s E3 press conference was a hyper-detailed gross-out fest
- How Fortnite is transforming the gaming industry
- Fortnite on the Switch is good enough to make Sony’s cross-play policy look even more stupid
- Fortnite’s celebrity tournament felt like a trial run for Epic’s grand e-sports ambitions