Category Archives: E3

E3 2016 – Microsoft Press Conference

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MICROSOFT E3 2016

First press conference of E3 Day 1 starts of, like every year, with Microsoft. I’ll do a quick recap of the event and then discuss my impressions.

Xbox One S

The show starts off with a video package introducing the new Xbox One S (Slim). Slim design. 40% smaller than the Xbox One, integrated power supply and up to 2 TB internal storage. Also introducing a new controller with grippy back similar to the Elite controller.

Phil Spencer, head of Xbox comes out and announces the new Xbox One S, starting at $299 USD this August.

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Gears of War 4 + Xbox Play Anywhere

Rod Ferguson from The Coalition, creators of Gears of War 4.  Also at this time the big announcement of the night: Xbox Play Anywhere. With future Microsoft games, they will come out on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC simultaneous, and support Play Anywhere. Buy one copy of the game, and have it able to be played on Xbox and PC, shared game saves and achievements. Start up on the Xbox, and continue your game on the PC.Gears_of_War_4

Gears of War 4 will support cross-play across the XB1 and PC, in the campaign, co-op, multiplayer, and the new Hoard Mode 3.0.

Laura Bailey comes out and there is gameplay shown for Gears of War 4. The game has more physics based events, as this part of the campaign shows a nasty sand storm which is blowing walls and dead enemies around. Gorgeous visuals, new enemy types, new weather effects. At the end of the demo we are shown a quick scene with an older Marcus Fenix.

Game is getting released October 11th, and there is a new custom Gears Elite Controller. And as a special bonus, Killer Instinct will have a new playable fighter in General RAAM from Gears of War 1.

Forza Horizon 3

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Up next is the reveal of from Playground Games. New location in Australia which has a nice blend of desert, jungle, and urban cities. New addition to the series is water on the tracks. Similar to Forza 6‘s water physics. The campaign will now support 4 player co-op that have seamless drop-in. Release September 27th, 2016, and will be released on the Xbox One and Windows 10. Xbox Play Anywhere support.

Recore

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A new video package is shown for Recore, highlighting that different robots. “Forge friendships with Robots” The game looks really interesting, and seems to have a lot of heart.

Final Fantasy XV

A quick demo is shown for the upgraded combat that’s coming to Square Enix‘s Final Fantasy XV. Something can be said for these press conferences, and their perfect demo playthroughs, and how they might not be believable, and then there’s FF XV demo, which was clumsy. The fight took place against a Titan as the player fights his hand. The combat is fluid sure, but it looks a lot like button mashing, and dodge-rolls. Release Sept 30th, 2016. I’ve never played a FF game, and I don’t intend to start.

The Division

Up ahead of their own press conference, Ubisoft takes the stage to discuss The Division, and their upcoming premium DLC. The Underground expansion will have random generated missions with different varying enemy types and spawn areas. There’s only so much much randomness a mission can support, when the gameplay is just pointing a gun at people, and shooting. The DLC is available first on the Xbox One, June 28th.

Battlefield 1

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Patrick Back is up next from DICE to talk about the big game of the show: Battlefield 1. The new game looks incredible. This time around there is more intuitive destruction and random weather elements. The big reveal was during yesterday’s EA Press Conference, but they show the trailer again, and announce that EA Access will have early access to the game. play it first on the Xbox One Oct 13th, 2016.

Xbox Platform

Mike Ybarra comes out, Head of Platform Design, and talks about the Xbox system. They’re improving network reliability with more servers in more countries. They’re adding more backward compatible titles and opening up the system to more games that support Cross-Network play. Coming soon is Background Music (finally), and Cortana Digital Assistance.

Three new updates coming soon. CLUBS are coming to Xbox Live that allows yo to join communities of people that like the same games you do. Looking For Group (LFG), allows players to find people playing the same game to join up. And Arena, a new competitive tournament platform.

Minecraft

The Minecraft team is up next to talk about the game, and its latest updates. One big update is the Friendly Update, which allows iOS, Android, PC, and Xbox to all play Minecraft cross-platform, all over Xbox Live, with dedicated servers. John Carmack announces Minecraft VR. New texture packs that turn the mobs into aliens and agents, and texture turn the walls into cities. This Fall on PC, and next year on the Xbox and other devices.

New Controller

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New custom controllers are available in the Xbox Design Labs. Customize the controller’s colours however you like, and engrave it with your name or gamertag. Very neat. “You Design it, We Build it”

ID@Xbox

Inside, a new game from the creators of Limbo is shown. Looks dark and ominous, as you’d expect. Side-scroller again. A quick sizzle reel of the upcoming games being developed through ID@Xbox is shown, including games: Cuphead, Outlast, Deliver Us The Moon, Flint Hook, FAR, Slime Rancher, Shadow Tactics, The Culling, For The King, Beacon, Stardew, Hand of Fate 2, Below, Raiders, Bloodstained, Yooka-Laylee, Everspace.

We Happy Few is coming to Xbox Preview from Compulsion Games. Available July 26th. This game is very weird, and has a Bioshock feel. I’m excited to try this one out.

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Ark: Survival Evolved is also going to support Xbox Play Anywhere.

Gwent

CD Projekt Red hits the stage and talks about The Witcher 3, and how QWENT, the in-game card game, became very popular. So they’re announcing a stand-alone card game: GWENT. Single player campaign, with new cards and new abilities, and multiplayer. A beta will start in September.

Tekken 7

Bandai/Namco up next to reveal Tekken 7. Early 2017. A quick gameplay campaign trailer is shown to show how the story and campaign seamlessly transition into the fighting gameplay. Oh, and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is now free on Xbox Live through Backwards Compatibility.

Dead Rising 4

A new game with a new holiday theme. New guns and a new area, and with weather elements. Coming out Holiday 2016. A nice reveal video is shown.

Scalebound

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Shannon Loftis comes out, from Microsoft Studios, to talk about Scalebound. Coming out in 2017, from Platinum Games. Hideki Kamiya hits the stage to introduce the latest gameplay video, which picks p from the Gamescon 2015 showcase last year, showing co-op gameplay of the player and his dragon taking on a big boss. Kamiya states that this is the biggest boss fight that Platinum Games has ever made. 4 dragons vs a large monster in an underground watery cave.

Sea of Thieves

From RARE, Craig Duncan hits the stage to talk about Sea of Thieves. They setup the gameplay video, showing three gameplay testing groups who had visited the studio. No tutorials were given to the groups, and they were dumped into the game and asked to play. The video showcased the ship against ship gameplay. Unannounced was how many people can be in your crew, but you have to steer and manage the ships, the sails, and load the cannons.

State of Decay 2

A quick video package for State of Decay 2 is revealed. New area is Turnbull County. And the game is going to be released next year, and now supports co-op, which is super exciting, and it’s lack of co-op is the only reason I stopped playing State of Decay 1.

Halo Wars 2

New reveal trailer for Halo Wars 2 showing the Covenant vs the Humans. This game is being made with the help of Creative Assembly. There is a new enemy type called The Banished. Released Feb 21st and supports the Xbox Play Anywhere. Beta is going on this weekend, and recently extended until Wednesday, June 22. The reveal is concluded with a multiplayer trailer.

Xbox Project Scorpio

Phil Spencer is out to conclude the show with the reveal of Project Scorpio, a new Xbox coming out holiday 2017 that is designed with 4K gaming in mind. Will support HDR and VR. All games will be compatible with the Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Project Scorpio. Claimed to be the most powerful console on the market. 6 teraflops of power. Only intended for 4K TVs though.

A final sizzle reel closes the show.

A very good showing from Xbox during their media briefing.The reveal of the Slim and Project Scorpio is definitely unexpected. I hope that the closing with the Scorpio doesn’t prevent any sales of the Slim, as they’re far behind the PS4 in that department.

Halo Wars 2, State of Decay 2, We Happy Few, Battlefield 1, Recore, Gears of War 4,and Forza Horizon 3 have me the most excited.

-iRogan

E3 2016 – Bethesda Press Conference

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BETHESDA E3 2016:

Finishing off day zero of E3 2016 is the Bethesda press conference, like last year, holding their own solo event away from the convention itself. EA also did this earlier today with EA PLAY. Why these two studios have decided to do this is unclear. Is it so they get their own spotlight before the mass media coverage that starts tomorrow. Is it because they feel that E3 is a media only event, that gamers are included, so they host their own public shows. It’s unknown.

Either way, let s get to the show already.

QUAKE Champions

A quick teaser for QUAKE Champions is revealed and Pete Hines takes the stage.  Pete thanks the fans, welcomes us to the Bethesda E3 briefing and announces Quake Champions. What ID does best. Fast crazy FPS games. Gorgeous visuals, only for the PC without a frame rate cap.

Pete Hines also discusses the big hits from the last year:

  • Fallout Shelter
  • Elder Scrolls Online Console Launch
  • Fallout 4
  • Doom

We are then introduced to Elder Scrolls: Legends, a Strategy Card game in the Elder Scrolls Universe. Will have a single player and multiplayer story, available across all platforms.

Fallout 4 Additions and Fallout Shelter

Next up is the Bethesda Game Studio where we are introduced to the new additions coming to Fallout 4: Contraption Workshop, Vault-tec Workshop, and Nuka-World.

As well, a big new update is coming to Fallout Shelter, which includes new locations, new enemies, update combat system, new characters and quests. As well, it’s coming to PC.

Skyrim Remastered

Coming out October 28th, a remastered edition of Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Also, Skyrim mods coming to consoles.

PREY

Raphael Colantonio from Arkane Studios takes the stage and quickly ackowledges the work that half of Arkane Studios is eorking on: Dishonored 2. But his team has been working on PREY.

A reboot of the franchise that never saw its sequel. A first person psychological sci-fi thriller that takes place on  a space station overrun by aliens. You’ll need your wits, weapons and mind-bending abilities to play this game. Out next year, more info at Quakecon later this year.

DOOM

New updates coming to DOOM are announced. More free updates coming to Doom Snapmap, new construction modules, new props, logic options, and the ability to make campaign-like stories that include the weapon wheel.

Two new team modes are coming to Doom Multiplayer soon. Later in the summer 3 new free-for-all modes will be released, and then later in the year, the first batch of Premium DLC will drop, including new maps, new playable demon, new guns, armour, and equipment.

A DOOM demo is also available now for free, and includes the fist level. For a limited time.

Elder Scrolls Online

Celebrating the One Year Anniversary of ESO released on consoles, and now has 7 million players online. A quick highlight package is shown, and the the Dark Brotherhood DLC expansion is announced for console. Also “One Tamriel” which automatically levels the game for all players, and drops the restriction barriers for all zones, so you can play with your party, no matter what level your character is. Never been done in an MMO before.

Bethesda VR

The team quickly announces that they are working on VR for their games: DOOM and Fallout 4, and is available to try on the game floor. Will be available on the VIVE Platform for the PC

Dishonored 2

The presentation wraps p with a huge chunk dedicated to Dishonored 2 from Arkane Studios, and Harvey Smith takes the stage. In Dishorored 2, like its predecessor, we play a supernatural assassin in a steampunk city. A lot of love has been put into the new location with a new custom game engine: The Void Engine, which brings a lot of atmospheric enrichment to the world.

D2 takes place 15 years after the events of the first game and gives the player the choice of playing either character: Emily Kaldwin, or her father from the first game, Corvo Attano. Both have their own unique set of abilities. Once you pick, you can’t switch.

First level that is shown is the Dust Districts that has random weather that can assist with assassinations as it effect visibility. The player has the ability to join different factions or work alone and there is a lot more work done to make the game more vertical. We are shown Emily’s new Mesmerize talent, which distracts enemies and holds them in place and will allow you pass unseen. The Far-Reach talent is also shown, with allows the player to reach distant ledges, as well as grab enemies. The Domino talent is showcased. This talent allows you to tag multiple enemies, and whatever happens to one,will simultaneously effect them all. Finally the Shadow-Walk ability turns you into a silent creepy shadow that crawls along the floor and can take out enemies unseen.

The biggest gameplay addition is the Timepiece. This device allows you to see the past through a lens in the level or area you are in. You can also jump into the past, interact with the enemies, and jump back.

Dishonored 2 will be available on the Xbox 1, PS$, and PC November 11, and if you pre-order any of the digital editions, you get the Definitive Edition of Dishonored 1 for free.

All the global Bethesda teams are shown on screen waving. Thank you to the fans. Goodnight.

Definitely a good way to wrap up the night. Bethesda’s conference I think was stronger than EA’s, but I think EA’s was hurt by some early leaks. I am most excited for Dishonored 2 and the newly rebooted PREY. A strong conference that hit all the key points, and was over just as quick.

I’m excited for the free copy of Dishonored 1 when pre-ordering 2. I’ve always wanted to replay D1, but couldn’t bring myself to buy it again on the latest-gen. Now I don’t need to.

See you tomorrow with E3 Day 1.

-iRogan

 

 

 

E3 2016 – Electronic Arts Press Conference

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ELECTRONIC ARTS E3 2016:

Starting of E3 first – well, before E3 officially begins – EA is jump starting the festivities by hosting their own event: EA PLAY, at their own venue in Los Angeles, and also hosting an event simultaneously in London. Using this simul-event to announce their upcoming annual sports games like Madden and FIFA, discuss Star Wars, and Battlefield 1.

TITANFALL 2

After kicking off the show, Vince Zampella from Respawn Entertainment is introduced and happily acknowledges the leak from earlier in the morning: Titanfall 2 Story Mode:

Telling the tale of the connection between Pilot and Titan. They also showed off a very exciting Multiplayer trailer highlighting some of the new Titans and their abilities, as well as the new Pilot abilities.

Next up, we move over to the London crown where Peter Moore discusses Madden 2017, and EA’s focus on competitive gaming, and ESports. They want all players to feel like pro players with multiple tiers of competitive gaming events as well as Premiere and Major competitive global events. They finish that segment off with a video package of the best Madden players and the Madden major event, and the top 8 players are brought to the stage to get their spotlight.

MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA

Like last year, not a lot of news, but they do show a behind the scenes look at the making of this next huge arc in the story. No new gameplay, but they’re promising bigger worlds and a bigger story. And the game is now on the Frostbite engine. Frostbite was the big story of the day as FIFA 17 is also now on the Frostbite engine.

FIFA 17

The next version of the largest sports franchise in the world, FIFA, now on Frostbite also has a new mode called The Journey, which is a single player career mode where you play as a young up and coming star, Alex Hunter, and work your way up through the ranks to premiere, and deal with all the club, coaches, management, and fame along the way.

Peter Moore also announces that Premiere Managers will also play  part in the upcoming game.

EA Originals

Patrick Soderlund is back on stage in LA and reminds us about last year where we saw Unravel. Soderlund announces EA Originals, which is the studio’s focus on working with smaller innovative studios and helping them bringing their ideas to light. EA Originals first game is called FE, from a Swedish Studio call Zoink.

A very pretty, unique exploration title which boasts that no helpful hints will be given to the player. They are just asked to explore and interact with the forest and the creatures.

STAR WARS

Next up, Jade Raymond hits the stage and talks about everything Star Wars, and a look ahead at what the many studios under EA are working on. No real gameplay, but a reminder that teams at DICE are working on Battlefront, and Visceral is working on a title coming out in 2018, and even Respawn Entertainment is working on a Star Wars title.

BATTLEFIELD 1

Last up in today’s press conference is Battlefield 1.

A very intense gameplay trailer is shown. They announce that it’ll be playable on the floor this week at their event, and remind us that it has horses, and trench wars, and airships, and tanks, and 64 player online combat.

Overall, EA‘s showing was just OK. No surprises. Nothing new was announced. The Titanfall 2 game has me the most excited, but that had already been announced, as well as Battlefield 1. The gameplay for Titanfall 2 has me excited, as well as the release expected later this year. Battlefield 1 was announced a few weeks ago as well, so all they showed was a more robust gameplay trailer which didn’t show and real gameplay. But they did have a 1 hour gameplay reveal following the show and available on the demo floor. Star Wars news left us actually wanting something tangible, as well as the nothing-to-show Mass Effect talk. The simultaneous broadcast in both LA and London was a unique idea.

Overall, it left me wanting more.

Hopefully Bethesda has something more in store. On at 7pm later tonight.

-iRogan

Pre-E3 Excitement

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No new reviews for a bit as I prep for my move at the end of the month, but currently there is a lot of E3 hype going around. Bethesda and EA have their own E3 press conference on Sunday June 12, and then the big ones are on Monday. I will be writing a re-cap of all the big press conferences over those few days. So stick around for that. Also over the next few days, as news and rumours start swirling in, I’ll highlight the things I’m excited for for.
To start…things that make me want a PS4 in February:

-iRogan

E3 2015 – Square Enix Press Conference

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SQUARE ENIX E3 Press Conference

*This one is coming a bit late as I wasn’t able to watch Tuesday’s conference’s live*

-Quick predictions or hopefuls before it begins: Hitman, Dues Ex Mankind Divided, and Just Cause 3 are top of my list.

-Conference starts with a fast montage for Just Cause 3, showing lots of carnage, explosion, grappling and gun fights. This is a smaller and personal press conference for Square Enix.

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-Phil Rogers takes the stage. Square’s first solo press conference in a long time at E3. Company is proud of the massive work and achievements in FFXIV Online.  The company is more open to helping their teams and listening to fan feedback. Always interested in improving their company.

-Company is proud of its uniqueness and variety of their brands.

Just Cause 3

–Avalanche Studios very proud of their huge open world games. Wanting to redefine the open world games. Sand-box gameplay driving development. Announces the new wing suit. Wing suit stabilizes the parachute. Upgraded grapple hook and multiple grapple lines.

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-400 sq miles. Launch Dec 1st, 2015, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

-Just Cause 3 gameplay: starts with our main man, Rico, driving a car out of a huge cargo plane. Trailer showcases lots of level, factory and bridge destruction. Showcases the new wing suit mobility. The new Mediterranean island location is greater than 400 sq feet from skybox to seabed.

-Multiple grapple tethers. Manual retract function to slingshot soldiers and vehicles. Tear objects apart or create wrecking balls. Two handed weapons can be used while parachuting. Unlimited C4. 80 land, sea, and air vehicles.

NieR

-New project early in development. Platinum Games. Yosuke Saito.

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-Teaser is meant to show the art. NieR is the title of the game. More info in the Fall, 2015, on the Ps4.

-Producer and Game Director take the stage to discuss the game further. 5 years since the previous installment. Platinum Games very willing and welcome to take on the challenge and provide their own take, and showcase what they’re known best for, action.

-Subtitle of the game still a secret.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

-Quick trailer for Rise of the Tomb Raider is shown, similar to what we had already seen during the Xbox Conference. “Discover the legend within.”

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-Brian Horton comes to the stage, game director at Crystal Dynamic. Discusses the gameplay world premiere. Wanted to make Lara Croft as human and believable as possible. Wanted to make the most believable as possible. Behind the scenes creation video is shown discussing the making of Lara Croft. Details are the most important part: pores, eyelashes, scars. Micro details on the clothes. Lara can get dirty and bloody during fights. Will gather snow on the clothing.

-Beautiful, hostile world. Large world environments. Tombs are back.

Lara Croft GO

–Square Enix Montreal to discuss mobile games. Hitman GO and Hitman Sniper. Trailer for new game. Purest one-touch form. Mobile Tomb Raider game in the same gameplay format as Hitman GO. Lara Croft GO. Cell shaded and colourful. Turn-based experience, with an amazing soundtrack, and challenging gameplay.

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-Sizzle reel for new game and expansions, Life is Strange, Dragon Quest, Final fantasy XIV Online.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Kingdom Hearts III and 

World of Final Fantasy

–Kingdom Hearts series: Shinji Hashimoto comes to the stage, no translator. Woops. Trailer for Final Fantasy 7 Remake starts to play. “Play it first on the PS4”. Years of anticipation, Square is remaking the game, more information in the future.

-Original FF VII coming to PC and iOS later this year.

–Kingdom Hearts series: new trailer. Kingdom Hearts Unchained Key – Android and iOS. First Kingdom Hearts for mobile. Connects to KH 3 world.

-Next up, Kingdom Hearts III. “Instead of talking about it, lets watch some footage.”

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-Brand new world. World premiere for Kingdom Hearts III. Gorgeous colour world, fast combat, lots of vertical platforming, and mountainously large enemies. Game is not turn-based, but still includes the team dynamic. Thank you for the continued patience and dedication, it’s greatly appreciated.

-One more project to announce: World of Final Fantasy. Initially announced yesterday during the Sony Conference. Trailer is shown. PS4 and PS Vita 2016. Hoping to bring in a wider audience to the genre as the bigger FF games seem to be less welcoming to new fans. Chibii characters.

Hitman

-Everything in this game lays the foundation for the series. A live, and ever-expanding world of assassinations. New hits and new locations. Game will adjust gameplay and events based on player feedback. Digital release to start.

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-New systems allow developers to do things that are bold and entirely new to the series. “Imagine a target appearing for a 48 hour window. One chance. Outcomes are final. Hit is gone forever. How he dies, is how he dies.” Very organic.

-Core of the game is still the campaign, organic gameplay in exciting locations. Locations are mode detailed and every NPC has a name and every room matters. Where you go, when you strike, and when you kill is up to you. Use brute force or orchestrate a stealth masterpiece. Numerous ways to take out targets.

-Community contracts return. Trailer. “Keys to the game are: freedom of approach, where you how you infiltrate, who you become. Some disguises are key, but some enemies are more observant. Improvisation is key. Experimentation is important. Mastery of levels is rewarded.”

-December 8. 2015 or 2016?

-Another sizzle reel: Hitman, Triad Wars, Final Fantasy XV

–Square Enix x tri-Ace New Project: StarOcean – Integrity and Faithlessness. Previously announced in Japan, and now coming to Europe and North America on the PS4 in 2016. New Gameplay trailer. Evolved form of a classic Japanese RPG

Dues Ex Mankind Divided

-No compromise of quality. Same team as Human Revolution, with a new engine.

-Takes place in 2029, 2 years after Human Revolution. World has changed. Augmented people are outcasts. Many branded as terrorists. Adam Jensen has left Sarif Industries. Is now an anti-terrorist agent, but also secretly a double agent.

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-New enhancements to Adam Jensen. Pistol and detachable blades as projectiles.

-Choices and consequence are at the heart of the series. Choices made will change the game, how it’s played, and determine the end of the story. Want to be one of the best action RPGs out there.

-World Wide Exclusive Gameplay Preview. Quick story trailer. Gun modifications still present. First-person and 3rd person gameplay. Early 2016. PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

–Final Fantasy Portal App, this summer.

-One more announcement… New RPG project, newly establish studio: Tokyo RPG Factory. Dedication to Japanese RPGs. Colourful concept art shown. All new console RPG. Completely new IP. Project SETSUNA. Global release in 2016.

–Square Enix is very proud to be such a diverse creative company, always wanting to amaze and excite gamers. Very proud of their teams and partners.

-Quick sizzle reel showing the games we saw during the press conference, and they bring the content creators back to the stage for a final goodbye.

-iRogan