E3 hype is already in full swing and companies are starting to share bits of information about their appearances at the expo this June, even though GDC still hasn’t even happened yet. Perhaps most notably thus far, Microsoft has moved away from their typical conference showing. Usually, we’d get Microsoft’s conference early on Monday with Sony taking the late slot of that same day, but MS has moved an entire day earlier and will potentially set the tone for the week starting on Sunday.
Last year, Microsoft took steps to solidify current generation offerings with the Xbox One S while also sparking some excitement for the next generation of consoles with the announcement of Scorpio. Executives took the stage and set some lofty expectations for the mystery project, boasting of true 4k gaming and a multitude of teraflops and computing cores. Better yet, they claimed it would be VR capable and will reportedly receive Fallout 4 VR when it’s finished.
Brace for big news.#XboxE3 briefing will air Sunday, June 11 at 2 PM PT. pic.twitter.com/EWilMOb47s
— Xbox (@Xbox) February 15, 2017
In fact, they even went so far as to proclaim on their website the Scorpio would be the only console capable of hi-fidelity VR gaming but that has changed since. If you look at their website currently, the “hi-fidelity VR” statement has been removed and there are no other mentions of VR at all — but the old video from June still retains the same language.
This isn’t to say that VR compatibility has been entirely scrapped, but it does at least allude to the project’s team taking a step back on their VR goals. Microsoft taking the Sunday slot all for themselves (save for perhaps Bethesda, if they choose to have their conference on Sunday for the third year in a row) could mean they’re incredibly confident in what they’re going to show and want that full day to let that energy permeate across the industry. They could also be gearing up for a blockbuster partnership related to VR, but we’ll have to wait and see.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) officially takes place June 14th-16th, but there will be conferences Microsoft, Sony, and others held starting on the 11th. This year, even the public is allowed to attend.
