The video game industry is a fast-moving beast. Trends appear overnight and disappear just as quickly. Development studios close at the click of an executive’s finger. The game of the moment becomes tomorrow’s afterthought. One constant, however, is the period in early summer, when publishers, developers, and hardware manufacturers showcase plans for the rest of the year and beyond, although the format has changed from what was regarded as the standard for twenty-something years.
The Entertainment Software Association held the inaugural Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 – get it?) in May 1995 with the goal of making it the premier trade show for video games. And for a time, it was. I fondly remember watching all the conferences and coverage: new titles to get excited over, surprise reveals, and cringe-inducing presentations.
The death of E3 was multifaceted and came as a surprise to few. The writing was on the wall when Sony pulled PlayStation from the event in 2019, but the show stumbled on a few more years before finally collapsing. However, the spirit of E3 lives on as May and June are still prime time for video game news. Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest is the closest thing to a traditional E3 conference, but many publishers and developers time their self-produced broadcasts to fall around the same time. It’s not as tightly packed or accessible as E3 used to be in the early 2010s, but it’s still an exciting time to be interested in the industry. This year is interesting as the big three (no, not them) are all in very different situations.
There are whispers of a PlayStation Showcase happening in late May. It feels like it is time for Sony to start discussing the future of many of its first-party studios, as its last Showcase felt lacklustre and focussed more on third-party projects. Sony’s blockbuster games take a lot of time to get right, but the upcoming slate of PS5 exclusives looks slim, and it would be wise for Sony to start pulling the curtain back and give players things to be excited about. If I were to speculate, Santa Monica, Naughty Dog and Housemarque should be close to having something to show – even if it’s just a reveal cinematic. The much-rumoured PS5 Pro is likely to be revealed, too, and Sony will need to have a few aces up its sleeve if it hopes to get players on board with a shiny new console.
As for Nintendo, I’m tired of following the neverending saga of Switch 2, and the company seem to be in no rush to announce a successor to the Switch. The highly rumoured internal delay of new hardware to 2025 has resulted in the Nintendo Switch’s 2024 being a slog – and we’re only in May. While the console is outdated, Nintendo continued to give me reasons to keep playing the Switch, but now the well has dried up, and the console is showing its age more than ever.
It’s frustrating that this comes after 2023, a great year for Nintendo with titles like Super Mario Bros Wonder, Pikmin 4 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but it is what it is. A Direct in June with some long-requested remasters and HD ports may be enough to keep players like myself happy, but it’s the minimum requirement now. The Switch will likely still perform well in software and hardware – particularly for a console launched in 2017 – but not having official confirmation that a successor is on the way is disappointing for an invested Nintendo fan. Nintendo does have its Fiscal Year Earnings release in early May and its annual shareholders meeting in June, which may get the ball rolling with confirmation that something is on the way. However, it’d likely be a statement that “we plan to release new hardware this fiscal year” at most. At this point, I have no reason to believe in anything happening until it does.
Xbox has announced that its Xbox Games Showcase will take place on June 9th of this year. Expectations are high, with it being the first Summer Showcase since Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. While most new projects greenlit following the acquisition are likely too early in development to be shown off, the potential for many previously released Activision games heading to Game Pass is high.
The other intriguing caveat is Xbox’s recent decision to make some of its first-party games cross-platform. The move upset diehards, but it looks like it was successful, with seven of the twenty-five best-selling games on the PlayStation Store in April coming from the green brand. Exclusives will likely remain for the foreseeable future, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we catch wind of new cross-platform Xbox titles during or shortly after the showcase – just not any of the heavy-hitters.
There will undoubtedly be new information regarding Avowed, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, and the Gears of War franchise, with Xbox focussing on the imminent future. But I’d also like to see more information on games further out, such as Clockwork Revolution, Fable, and Perfect Dark. Xbox usually delivers some nice third-party announcements, too, like last year’s Persona 3 Reload reveal, so here’s hoping for more.
Similarly to last year, where the Showcase was followed by a deep dive into Starfield, the [REDACTED] showcase is Microsoft’s main event this year. It only takes a second to put the Cerberus head and the unmistakable shade of orange together… It’s a new Call of Duty: Black Ops game developed by Treyarch and Raven.
While critics slammed Modern Warfare III as unnecessary and the mark of a franchise on its last legs, Sledgehammer Games made some vital changes from Modern Warfare II to return the gameplay to the arcade fun of Call of Duty and not the bastardised quasi-tactical shooter version of Call of Duty that Infinity Ward has been insistent on creating since 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot.
In regular Shutter Paw fashion, I will have a more in-depth piece on the game and its reveal, but I’m very excited about a new Black Ops game. Black Ops Cold War was a miracle. The majority of its development and support was through lockdown. If Treyarch has been able to recapture the magic in a longer and steadier development period, it has the potential to create a phenomenal Call of Duty no matter what pillar of the game you frequent most.
If there’s any news I don’t want to hear this Summer, it’s more reports of studio closures and redundancies. The latest news coming from Take-Two, a company poised to release what will likely become the biggest-selling video game of all time, is pure greed. Solidarity –as always– with those impacted. It’s getting harder and harder not to lose hope.
With that sobering thought out of the way, here’s to better weather, new video games, and the hope of a better industry that champions creativity over bottom lines.