E3 2017: What to expect for PC gamers

Every June, the video game development community gather in LA to present their upcoming releases to the press. All the big guns in the industry, from Bethesda to Ubisoft and Activision, will compete to leave the best impression after their announcements, which have been kept under wraps for months.

This year, for the first time in event’s history, E3 goes public and lets 15,000 fans buy the tickets and join the party. People who purchased the tickets will gain access to the show floor, panel discussions, and other events.

When and where is E3 2017?

Once again, this year’s E3 takes place in Los Angeles, at the LA Convention Center, opening its doors at noon on June 13 and run every day until June 15. Each day will have many hours of programming and information available to those who are lucky to attend the show.

However, the biggest press conferences will be held on the Sunday and Monday before the show starts. Sony, Xbox, Bethesda and Ubisoft hold major press events, while Electronic Arts are off site doing a brief highlights keynote.

June is coming pretty soon, and it’s set to be an early Christmas for fans. So, time to get excited and talk about what PC gamers can expect to see at E3 2017.

Major names at E3 2017

Activision

Upcoming PC games:

• Call of Duty WW2
• Destiny 2

Activision had an incredibly low-key E3 2016, with the only presence at the show seen by very few people. This year, we expect a much bigger showing, including Destiny 2, an online-only first-person shooter, that already has debut trailers capturing some of the bombastic adventures, and a return to the Second World War for Call of Duty WW2.

While we don’t know any other details about Call of Duty yet, Destiny’s sequel has been revealed for a while. The story takes place one year after the events of Destiny: Rise of Iron, featuring the Guardians forced to flee The Last City after it was conquered by the Red Legion and their commander Ghaul. Now they must acquire new powers to fight the enemies and venture new worlds in the Destiny universe.

These two major titles make it almost a definite that Activision will be in the spotlight for everyone to see.

Bethesda

Upcoming PC games:

• Doom VR
• Fallout 4 VR
• Quake Champions
• Prey

Bethesda, represented by its VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines, has already announced its E3 2017 press conference and set the same day and time as last year. Its event will be on Sunday before the show at 7 pm PT.

The main title of the event is likely to be Quake Champions, which will be the first entry in the Quake series since 2005's Quake 4. It will feature a handful of playable characters, each with their own sets of unique skills in an arena based shooter.

Prey is another upcoming game we know at this point. It’s the first-person action-adventure, which takes place in an alternative timeline where John F. Kennedy survives the assassination attempt in 1963 and directs more funding into the space program, allowing it to flourish. That leads to horrible consequences, though, as an alien force made up of many different species, collectively called the Typhon, attacks Earth.

Plus, we will perhaps get a look at Fallout 4 and Doom in VR and hope to see something even bigger in the works like new Elder Scrolls and another entry in the Wolfenstein franchise.

Electronic Arts

Upcoming PC games:

• FIFA 18
• Madden NFL 18
• NBA Live 18
• Need for Speed
• Star Wars: Battlefront 2

Last year Electronic Arts made the bold decision to pull away from the show and host their own, invite-only showcase. They will do the same this time, throwing an hour-long keynote address on Saturday, June 10. After this day, the public will be able to check out what they have to offer.

Star Wars Battlefront 2, Need for Speed, FIFA 18, Madden NFL 18, NBA Live 18 are just some of the titles you will see on the stand. EA has said they'll confirm more in the coming months.

Ubisoft

Upcoming PC games:

• South Park: The Fractured But Whole
• New Assassin’s Creed (rumors)

Ubisoft always holds its press conference on Monday before the show, and there’s no reason for that to be otherwise this year. We don’t have many clues about the topics of the conference that will be discussed, though we are hoping the star of it will be the new Assassin’s Creed game. After giving this franchise a year off, 2017 might be the year Ubisoft brings it back with some new ideas under the hood because the formula has worn thin over the years. If they get it right, the game could be the star of the entire E3 2017.

Other games for PC likely include South Park: The Fractured But Whole, following the plot after South Park: The Stick of Truth. The children of South Park have a new adventure, becoming superheroes this time.

A falling-out over Cartman's planned film franchise divides the boys into two groups. Those who side with Cartman become Coon and Friends, while the rival group, Freedom Pals, call for their own franchise, which leads to a civil war between the two groups. Once again you will control The New Kid, though this time, with the option of choosing the gender.

E3 2017 predictions

Alongside the games from the major publishers, these are the titles we think could be shown at E3 2017:

• Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite
• Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
• Metal Gear Survive
• Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game
• NBA 2K18
• Vampyr
• Project Cars 2
• Project Sonic

As always, E3 2017 is set to be quite the event. If you are a fan of video games, don’t miss it. Follow the latest news and announcements on HesoGames.