The Microsoft E3 2019 press conference couldn’t be more important for the company. Since the Xbox One’s launch in the fall of 2013, and technically even before the console’s unveiling that summer, Microsoft has been catching up with its main competitor, Sony. That could change this year.
Sony will not be at E3 2019. The company is choosing to save its big reveals for next summer, when it will likely announce the PlayStation 5 and decide to give out individual titles, like Hideo Kojima’s. Death, individual live shows. That gives Microsoft the biggest and most prominent stage at this year’s conference to tell fans everything it has in store for the rest of the Xbox One lifecycle and showcase the future of its next console. We don’t know if we will get the name of a new device or possibly see it on the screen. But anything could happen, especially with Microsoft poised to own the conversation next week.
We just finished our final E3 rehearsal here with the team in Redmond. I feel really good about the briefing. There is much to show. We have 14 games from Xbox Game Studios on the show this year, more first party games than we’ve ever had on the show. Fun times. # XboxE3
– Phil Spencer (@ XboxP3) May 30, 2019
There’s also a huge element of services at play this year, too. Microsoft has its xCloud cloud gaming platform that is scheduled to open to the public later this year, as well as its growing Xbox Game Pass subscription service that the company just announced will be coming to PC. We look forward to hearing more about both, especially in the wake of Google’s big Stadia ads earlier this week.
Of course, there will be games. We hope to know much more about Infinite Halo, the endgame in the franchise. Claimant trilogy that could be both an Xbox One title and a launch game for the next generation of Xbox. There’s a chance we might get a release and some long-awaited gameplay cutscenes for the title. Microsoft boss Phil Spencer says the company will have much more than Aura. It promises 14 games from Xbox Game Studios (in other words, exclusives), thanks to the big wave of acquisitions from Microsoft’s game studio that it announced at E3 last year.
That’s a lot of potential news, so expect a long and packed press conference from the Xbox team on Sunday. For those who want to see it live, here are the best ways to tune in.
How to watch
Date: Sunday June 9
Time: San Francisco: 1PM / New York: 4PM / London: 9PM / Berlin: 10PM / Moscow: 11PM / Beijing: 4AM (June 11) / Tokyo: 5AM (June 11) / Sydney: 6AM (June 11)
Live broadcast: Watch Microsoft’s Live Stream on YouTube, Mixer, Twitch, or Twitter
