What games will Square Enix show off during its E3 2018 presentation?

By Gabe Gurwin May 8, 2018

Square Enix had a smaller presence at E3 2017 than it did in the past, skipping a traditional press event in favor of prolonged livestreams showing off its upcoming games, but the publisher is returning this year with a dedicated press event. The Square Enix E3 Showcase will take place on June 11, and we’re excited to see what games are in the works.

On June 11 at 1 p.m. ET, Square Enix will release a pre-recorded video presentation detailing “the many worlds within [its] universe.” What this exactly entails is anyone’s guess, but we’re sure Lara Croft will show up for a look at Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the first information about Crystal Dynamics’ Avengers project, as well. Kingdom Hearts III is shaping up, as well, and we’re hoping to get a final release date and an extended look at gameplay.

What we won’t see is the Hitman series, which was given to developer IO Interactive after it split with Square Enix. We’re also unlikely to see anything Deus Ex-related, as the franchise was reportedly put “on hold” following the poor sales of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

The Square Enix E3 Showcase will be available to watch on several platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Microsoft’s Mixer. No length was given in the announcement, but its 2015 press conference ran for a little over an hour. That year’s presentation was packed with games, including Just Cause 3 and Nier: Automata. We’re hoping something on this scale is in store for us again, but with Automata just releasing last year, it’s unlikely Yoko Taro and his team are ready to unveil their next project quite yet.

E3 2018 is already shaping up to be a big deal, with other publishers bringing previously announced AAA games to show for the first time. These include Ubisoft’s The Division 2, as well as Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. game on Switch. Electronic Arts — in an event adjacent to E3 — will also show off the next entry in the Battlefield series. Rumor has it that it will take us back to World War II, following Battlefield 1‘s World War I setting in 2016.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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Nintendo confirms that it won’t be part of E3 2023

Pikmin and Bulborb in Pikmin 4.

Nintendo has confirmed reports that it won't be participating in E3 2023, meaning the gaming trade show will be missing one of its key vendors when it returns in-person this June.
"We approach our involvement in any event on a case-by-case basis and are always considering various ways to engage with our fans," a Nintendo spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. "Since this year’s E3 show didn’t fit into our plans, we have made the decision to not participate. However, we have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the ESA [Entertainment Software Association] and E3."
After taking 2020 and 2022 off and being digital-only in 2021, this year was supposed to mark the grand return of E3, which was once a dominant game industry trade show that attracted every big video game company. Although Sony hasn't participated since 2019, it still came as a shock in January when IGN reported that both Nintendo and Microsoft would not be attending E3 this year as well. It appears that the report is true, as Microsoft has not confirmed any E3-related events outside of its independently run Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.
Nintendo skipping E3 2023 not only takes away a vendor that dominated the show floor in previous years, but also raises questions about whether or not the company will hold an exciting Nintendo Direct around then. While Nintendo typically holds a big showcase with lots of first-party game announcements around June every year, in 2022 it only held a third-party driven Partner Showcase in June. Now that we know it won't be at E3 2023, we're left to wonder when exactly then next big Nintendo Direct will be.
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Playstation character wall at E3 2018

Let's start with the good news: E3 2023 will be held in its in-person format once again after three long years of digital events necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this time with ReedPop at the helm. The bad news is that Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo -- gaming's "Big 3" -- may not show up at the industry’s biggest convention this summer.

This is according to a report from IGN citing multiple sources, who claimed the companies won’t be a part of the show or make appearances on the floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center in any way. Their absence from this year’s E3, especially Nintendo’s, may come as a shock to the gaming community, but it's not such a surprise when looking at the past few iterations of E3. Even before the pandemic locked everyone down in 2020, Sony and Xbox had been hosting their own E3-style livestreams, so it was more likely they would do it again this year anyway. Nintendo, on the other hand, managed to show off its upcoming games via Nintendo Direct streams and at its booth, console kiosks and all.

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The official artwork confirming Summer Game Fest's return on June 8, 2023.

Geoff Keighley has confirmed when Summer Game Fest will return in June 2023. It will begin with a live kickoff show on June 8, 2023, placing Keighley's game announcement alternative less than a week before E3's grand (intended) 2023 return.
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