It’s that time of the year, boys and girls!! Not E3; E3 is officially about to be underway. If you’ve spent any time with me, you know this is my favorite time of the year, so now’s the perfect opportunity to go back and "review,” in a sense, an old Xbox conference. I did one of these last year, along with looking at 2023’s after it happened, but this year I want to jump to a showcase that I feel was really a turning point for where Xbox is now. Many of you will remember it as the year of acquisitions and Phil showing their hand at the aggressive future they’ll soon tackle. For me, it was one of the few years I’ve felt Team Xbox had a solid showing from front to back; the pacing was spot on, and there was hardly a lull in reveals and highlightable moments. Let’s dive into Xbox’s 2018 E3 briefing!

Let’s start with a little history, though. Going into this year's event, Microsoft was definitely at a mixed reception as far as consumer outlook, you could say. The previous November, they had the release of the Xbox One X. We were at the peak of fans asking, “Where are the exclusive games?” as 2017 was all but bare for a few titles like Halo Wars 2 and exclusive rights on smaller projects like Cuphead. People were hungry for what Xbox could do. I remember specifically that around this time people started the dialogue about Xbox only having Gears, Halo, and Forza. People were ready for something new. Pieces were moving in the background, and there was a different aura going into this year's show. Starting off super strong with the first cinematic reveal of Halo Infinite, I remember sitting back and thinking this was some new IP reveal as the landscape looks foreign and unknown things we weren’t used to. As it went on, you started seeing architecture that hints at Halo and the Marines, followed by the Chiefs helmet coming into view, which sealed the future of Xbox’s once flagship franchise, a solid get-the-fans-happy way to start the show.

Following up on Halo for the Xbox community is not an easy task, but Microsoft had a new trailer for Ori and the Will of the Wisps, giving it a 2019 release window. Still longer than people would’ve liked at that point, but a solid title nonetheless that I feel never quite got its flowers. Xbox wanted to get their own taste of FromSoftware with the reveal of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, something that would go on to win Game of the Year Praise, and I know that with how times have changed, people will be anxiously wanting a sequel from Activision, who published the original now obviously under Xbox’s umbrella. Another hint at the future Todd Howard returned to an Xbox stage to give an extra look to Fallout 76, a title that has now completely turned its image around since its initial launch and has a thriving community across all platforms.

A little breather early on with the reveal of “The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit,” a new title taking place in the “Life is Strange Universe,” and yet again another trailer for Crackdown 3. It honestly shocks me how much marketing they were pumping out for this game and expecting it to succeed, especially nowadays when your largest titles of the year hardly get any buildup. Nier Automata and Metro Exodus were both solid showcases as far as third parties go, and both have their own strong followings. I don’t know how much they really pushed new fans toward the series with these trailers, though. But we don’t need to spend a ton of time on that, as I absolutely popped for the next segment, with Phil Spencer in the crowd talking about grabbing a larger Japanese market and revealing the very first Xbox trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4! I freaked. Kingdom Hearts personally is one of the few titles I’d want to cross platforms for, and being able to continue the journey on my preferred device was a delight—more so than the world of Frozen that was featured in this trailer.

Sea of Thieves first massive expansion (which are staples at the showcase now) for The Devils Roar and a fast cinematic for Battlefield V led into the reveal for Forza Horizon 4, which to this day is still my favorite entry in the series. It’s wild looking back and thinking this studio is now in charge of the Fable franchise going into this year’s showing. Speaking of studios, following Forza, we had the first mic drop that would lead the charge of Xbox’s strategy to today. The Initiative is a new studio working on the now-memory “AAAA Project,” which we now know as a reboot of the Perfect Dark franchise. Plus the acquisitions of Undead Labs (State of Decay), Playground Games (Forza Horizon), Compulsion Games (We Happy Few, South of Midnight), and, to everyone’s surprise, Ninja Theory (Hellblade). This was a monumental step into Xbox’s plans moving forward and has only been doubled down on with the likes of Bethesda, Activision, and Blizzard all joking the ranks in years to come. Xbox saw a changing market back then where games couldn’t live on one platform and studios couldn't survive as they had in the past. Xbox wanted a wide range of developers across multiple platforms for the healthiest future of the industry.

A random mix of titles from “Takes of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, Ashen, Dead Cells, Children of Morta, and some new additions to GamePass from Bethesda, including Fallout 4, would fill in the next extended gap. Groundbreaking, and it gave fans a quick glimpse at some smaller or overlooked titles moving forward while giving you time to process Phil’s announcement beforehand. It didn’t take long for them to ramp things back up again, as we were met with a look at Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Devil May Cry 5, of all things. Going into 2018’s showcase, I don’t know a single person who would’ve had DMC on their bingo card. Dying Light 2 and a random return of Battletoads led to an exclusive reveal of “Gears of War 5", now simply known as “Gears 5”, which is super fitting as rumors have been slowly building towards the reveal of the next and final chapter in this Gears saga being revealed at 2024’s showcase. But that wasn’t enough; there was something at the time that was much larger that Xbox wanted to end on, a game that was only ever mentioned for years and was building itself up as the next biggest thing. The game that would change the future of the industry and be the new bar developers would chase. Xbox’s 2018 showcase ended with an extended cinematic look at “Cyberpunk 2077” from CD Projekt RED. Ah, how history lays out a weird path to look back on.

As mentioned, this was definitely a weird and growing time for Xbox. Plans may not have worked out how they initially envisioned them back then, but I feel they began placing bricks to help support the ever-changing future of the industry. We’re now at a time where first-party exclusives are becoming more risky and a gamble to make and succeed off of. I don’t expect any massive revelations in 2 weeks when we see the 2024s showcase, but it’s always nice to look back at the past and see what remains in the current time and how things have played out since. Keep your eyes here at badlandsbacklogs.squarespace.com for even more showcase coverage in the coming weeks and our reactions and thoughts to the new announcements coming our way. What was your favorite part of this showcase or something you were surprised by? Let us know down below or over at our twitter.com/badlandsbacklog.

Xbox E3 2018 Review!

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