While E3 2018 didn’t technically start until Tuesday this week, much of the big news comes during the pre-show period from Saturday to Monday. Here’s a roundup of our coverage of E3 2018 before the official start of the event.
Beat Saber Coming to PSVR
Indie studio Hyperbolic Magnetism announced ahead of the Sony conference that their VR rhythm game is on its way to PlayStation VR later this year. The game sold over 100,000 copies in its first month of availability on PC VR devices, and is set to launch on Sony’s platform with a new song, and potentially more content.
Microsoft Stays Mum on Xbox VR
During Microsoft’s main E3 2018 presentation, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer talked briefly on stage about the future of the brand, mentioning ‘future “consoles”‘ in development, but there was once again no sign of VR support for Xbox One. This follows the surprising no-show last year at the launch of Xbox One X. The hardware is more than capable of taking the fight to Sony, but for now it continues to be one-way traffic.
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot Announced
Set two decades after the events of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017), Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot is a standalone VR game set to launch next year. Bethesda announced the title at their E3 2018 showcase; little information is known about the game so far, but we’ll report our findings once we go hands-on this week.
Prey (2017) DLC to Include VR Modes
Bethesda also announced their new Prey: Mooncrash DLC will soon include two VR-compatible game modes. This consists of a single player escape room game and a multiplayer game called ‘Typhon Hunter’ which, according to Bethesda, pits the series’ protagonist Morgan Yu against mimics that will stalk, hunt and hide in plain sight as they try to take Yu down.
Elder Scrolls: Blades is Bethesda’s First Mobile VR Game, Also Coming to High-end Headsets with Crossplay
Introduced by director Todd Howard as a smartphone-first title, Elder Scrolls: Blades was demonstrated to have touch-friendly controls, and is set to launch on as many platforms as possible later this year, including mobile VR all the way up to high-end VR. The game promises to include both handcrafted and procedurally generated dungeons, character customisation and levelling, and several game modes including an infinite dungeon.
Major Tracking Update for Leap Motion
Leap Motion has released another major software update to their markerless hand tracking hardware – a product which hasn’t changed specification since it launched in 2012, but has seen dramatic improvements to the quality of tracking over the years. The new updates claim to bring major improvements “across the board.”
Transference Comes to PSVR, Vive, and Rift in Fall 2018
Psychological thriller from Elijah Wood’s studio SpectreVision was shown again at Ubisoft’s E3 conference, this time with a new launch trailer. The game blends live action and rendered environments in a perspective-shifting narrative. While it is built with VR in mind, the title is also launching in traditional formats sometime in Fall 2018, on PSVR, Rift, Vive, PC, Xbox One, and PS4.
Space Junkies Beta Announced for Late June
Zero-G multiplayer shooter Space Junkies was another VR game announced last year to make a second appearance at Ubisoft’s E3 2018 presentation. The new trailer showed some new gameplay, and revealed the dates for the open beta: June 28th to July 2nd. Signups for the closed beta is already open on the official Space Junkies website.
Insomniac Reveals More Stormland Info
Insomniac’s CCO Chad Dezern appeared on stage at the E3 2018 PC Gaming Show to talk about upcoming open-world adventure game Stormland, which was announced just before the event. Dezern detailed some of the key movement mechanics optimised for VR motion controllers, as well as some of your character’s scavenging abilities.
Trover Saves the Universe Announced for PS4 and PSVR from Squanch Games
Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland’s game studio Squanch Games enjoyed some time on the big screen at Sony’s main E3 2018 presentation with their new game Trover Saves the Universe, an action-platformer of sorts. In typical style, the haphazard trailer gave very little information, but it is targeting an early 2019 release for PS4 and PSVR.
PSVR Exclusive Ghost Giant Announced
Detailed in a post on the PlayStation Blog just before E3, Ghost Giant is an adorable puzzle adventure from Zoink, creators of Fe (2018) and Flipping Death (TBA), coming exclusively to PSVR. The player assumes the role of the ghost, and can interact with the environment by lifting” furniture, vehicles and trees,” or even opening up “entire buildings to reveal the stories going on inside.”
Déraciné Announced for PSVR From Developer Behind Dark Souls
From Software, creators of popular RPG series Dark Souls, has revealed a game that is very different in tone compared to the studio’s most famous works. According to the description of the teaser trailer, which was shown just after the main Sony press conference, Déraciné is about a young girl in a secluded boarding school who summons a spirit. The game is said to task the player with proving the spirit’s existence and building “a unique bond with the students through clever interactions.” The game is set to arrive sometime in 2018 exclusively on PSVR.