E3 2016 Predictions

By: Max Cannon

Get ready for a slew of video game related news to come crashing in. The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, takes place during June in the LA Convention Center. The show kicks off with press conferences from the major companies. Things will start with Bethesda on Sunday, June 12^th and follow up with Microsoft on Monday morning. After a midday showing by Ubisoft, EA, and potentially Square Enix the day will wrap up with a showing by Sony. Each conference is about an hour long and is filled with announcements, trailers, and release dates for upcoming games. 

Every year people make wild predictions and this year is no different! While there are some things to be expected and some that are less likely than others E3 predictions are part of the hype that makes the convention so exciting. So here are my 5 E3 2016 predictions!

A New Splinter Cell Will Be Revealed

Ubisoft typically blows people away with their E3 reveals. And while the games don't often live up to their lofty promises, the excitement of first seeing their games is an E3 highlight. Last year it was Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and the year before that was Rainbow Six: Siege, 2013 had The Division, and before that was the infamous Watch Dogs. I think it's time Ubisoft brings back my favorite franchise of theirs, Splinter Cell.

Splinter Cell hasn't seen a release since 2013's Splinter Cell: Blacklist the follow up to my favorite Xbox 360 game, Splinter Cell: Conviction. Though we haven't heard many rumblings about a new game in the series, we have heard talks about a new movie. Tom Hardy has been cast as Sam Fisher in the planned movie and with the upcoming Assassin's Creed movie reaching a fever pitch in popularity it would definitely be the right time to get the ball rolling on the Splinter Cell franchise. 

Also, I really want it.

Rockstar Games Will Announce Something At Sony's Conference

Take-Two Interactive, the company that oversees Rockstar Games, has announced that we can expect some Rockstar related news very soon. Though Rockstar Games doesn't often appear on the E3 show floor, they have been known to make an appearance at either Sony or Microsoft's conference. Grand Theft Auto V was announced for next-gen consoles at Sony's conference and Grand Theft Auto IV was revealed at Microsoft's.

Though I believe we'll see something from them at Sony's conference due to nearly decade old deal. At E3 2007, Sony announced Rockstar would be developing the game Agent exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The game never came to be but Sony clearly paid for this exclusive deal, supposedly. My assumption is that whatever Rockstar is working on will be announced by Sony even if it is a multi-platform release.

Rumors have recently been running around of a follow up to Red Dead Redemption, with a possible leaked map of the game. Here's hoping it appears. 

Sony Announces A New PlayStation 4

Rumors have been flying around about a new PlayStation 4, dubbed the PlayStation 4.5, PlayStation 4K, and official documents have called it the PlayStation Neo. Though the PlayStation Neo would be more powerful than the PlayStation 4 it would still potentially play PlayStation 4 discs exclusively, though they would perform better. Though many gamers aren't on board with the idea of a new PlayStation it appears as though Sony is going through with it.

What better time to announce a new console than E3? Rumors have predicted an October/September release to line up with PlayStation VR's release date but nothing is confirmed yet. 

I'd also assume that if a new PlayStation 4 is shown, the current model of PlayStation would receive a price drop to around $300. This would definitely make the console more competitive, but it wouldn't necessarily alleviate the frustrations gamers have.

What has you excited for E3? What would you hope to see? And what are some of your favorite E3 moments? Leave a comment below!