Congrats to @nasenbingo for winning this year's Microsoft portion of the banner contest. katpottz's "Will Do Anything for Exclusives" banner came in second. And gentlemanlygentleman's Crackdown/Lockdown remix was a very close third place.

Congrats to

The Official MICROSOFT Thread

E3 is the place for announcing never before seen games. It's exciting, fast-paced stuff and we're all enthusiastic to start talking about all the new toys. But, please keep in-depth discussions about specific games in their respective forums. For more information about how to help us keep things organized, go check out the E3 2018 and You! thread.

In an attempt to keep the E3 shenanigans organized, the mods institute these official discussion threads for each conference so that everybody has a go-to place to discuss them before, during, and after the show.

Despite the chaos of E3, keep in mind that the general site rules still apply. So, don't be a dick. If you need a refresher on to conduct yourself like an upstanding citizen of the Giant Bomb community, check out the FAQ.

Keep Discussions On Topic

This thread is exclusively for the general discussion of the Microsoft press conference. Discussion involving the other company's conferences should be taken to their respective threads (once they're posted).

Specific Announcements

To help you get where you need to go to talk about anything announced or shown during this press conference, we have created a list of them right here:

• The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
• Battlefield V
• Black Desert Online
• Crackdown 3
• Cuphead
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Devil May Cry 5
• Dying Light 2
• Fallout 76
• Forza Horizon 4
• Gears 5
• Gears Pop!
• Gears Tactics
• Halo Infinite
• Jump Force
• Just Cause 4
• Kingdom Hearts III
• Metro Exodus
• NieR:Automata
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Sea of Thieves
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• Session
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Tales of Vesperia
• Tom Clancy's The Division 2
• Tunic
• We Happy Few

Where Can I Watch?

Sunday, June 10 @ 1:00 PM PDT - Microsoft Theater (Your Local Time)

• Giant Bomb Chat
• Xbox.com
• Xbox One
• Mixer.com
• Twitch
• YouTube

Y’all mind if I vape in here?

Here's hoping they reveal something that rewards XBox owners. I don't recall anything special showing up for XBox in the Wallmart leaks.

@nasenbingo Congrats. I'll get you back next year though :P

DMC5!!!!!

The translation was off at the end. The director said he thought it was going to be the best and we can count on it.

I'm gonna say that Microsoft had a solid showing this year, despite the sequel numbers reaching Final Fantasy heights soon. Sony will have a hard time countering this.

*Edit* And holy hell that Cyberpunk 2077. For the first time in years, I'm actually hype for something.

As someone who doesn't own an Xbox, I have to tip my hat to Microsoft. Much better than last year.

Solid showing of a variety of games. Yeah, most of them are still multiplats, but rather than being silly and trying to veil that fact like last year, they owned it and said "Look how awesome these games are!" And they did announce exclusives for the franchises they know their fans love. Heck, some of the releases even got me interested.

I have sooo many questions about Devil May Cry 5 and Jump Force.

So that was original Dante at the end, right? But the main character is definitely DMC Dante. So is this a sequel to DMC and original Dante is just a cameo? Or is this a Sonic Generations situation with both Dantes getting pretty much equal playtime? And how are their play styles different?

So Jump Force is basically J-Stars set in the real world? Why the real world? That realistic art style is really throwing me for a loop. I sure hope there's more of a story here than most Jump crossovers. This game's story is gonna live and die based on its character interactions for me. If Luffy, Goku and Naruto don't get into a playable eating contest, we riot!! And Light in a fighting game?! How does that even work???

@nicksmi56: The short-haired guy is more likely Nero, a deuteragonist of the series and protagonist of Devil May Cry 4.

@nicksmi56: I think DmC is alternate universe and doesn't factor into DMC5. The protagonist had a sword very much like the one Nero had in DMC4 and his arm had similar powers to Nero's arm as well. The Dante at the end is looks closest to the DMC4 Dante.

Main character looks to be Nero from Devil May Cry 4, except now with a more DMC Dante like haircut. Seems like it's just ignoring the reboot and continuing on after 4, probably with Nero as the main character and occasionally playing as Dante like how 4 did it.

It felt kinda pointless and too predictable... Gears and Halo were the only big exclusives unless I missed something. I don't give a shit about either of them now, they were cool in high school and college but they haven't aged well. Unless they get reinvented like God of War was they should just die off. MS first party still sucks, which is a shame.

I don't see the big deal about Cyberpunk, it looks like a good Ghost in the Shell video game, but nothing mind blowing.

Microsoft's presentation at E3 was pretty good!

@rahf: @panfoot: hmm, a lot of places are saying that is Nero but he doesn't seem like him at all. That's cool with me but I thought he was a new character.

@katpottz: thx duder, did not expect at all to win this... looking forward to your entries next year!

@panfoot: @liquiddragon: @rahf: Thanks for the heads up, guys! I've only been an onlooker to the series (have the trilogy pack but haven't gotten around to it yet) and haven't even glanced at 4, so that explains why I didn't recognize Nero at all!

I was a little lukewarm on The Witcher series, but I'm excited for the potential in Cyberpunk. I'm curious what CDPR can do with such a setting.

The Funko Pop Gears game was probably the worst thing I'll see this E3.

@liquiddragon: The main thing that gives it away to me is the silver hair. DmC Dante had black hair, albeit with a similar haircut to the guy in the trailer. Whereas Nero has silver hair. And one of his main powers stem from his right arm with demonic mojo-- same one that's chopped off and replaced with a prosthetic.

@liquiddragon: It's definitely the same Nero voice actor, plus the revving sword and arm based get over here attacks.

The arm is the biggest indication(I'm guessing we'll see his weird devil arm get ripped off at the beginning and then he gets his new robo arm he had in the trailer), but his sword and I *think* the pistol are both the same as his DMC4 weapons.

I thought the show was much better than last year, but I wasn't blown away. Microsoft buying studios like Ninja Theory and Playground is amazing and it shows that they are finally investing in games again. I love Halo, Gears and Forza and they looked incredible, but I was hoping for a new Perfect Dark or at least a new Fable and I was a little disappointed that neither was shown. Perfect Dark was my favorite shooter until Halo came out, I know the one for 360 wasn't great but it's time for a new one imo. It was also really disappointing that there wasn't a new exclusive ip either.

@hassun: hahaha I was afraid this was the only Gears thing they would announce.

@rahf: It didn't cross my mind that DmC Dante had a similar haircut to Nero in DMC5. Maybe that's a bit of a nod. To me DmC Dante doesn't factor into this and not part of the conversation. Dante and Nero had similar hair in DMC4. The sword and the arm are both significant tells but his face is completely different. He's never had a jaw like that so I thought he might be a new guy.

@liquidprince: Right, the sword and the arm are big indicators for sure and I was trying to think of his voice but can't quite remember but I'll take your word. The thing that got me thinking he was a new character is his face. His facial structure is unlike Nero's. Nero had a narrow baby face but in DMC5 he's more square jawed.

I'm pretty excited about a Devil May Cry 5. The stuff they added in the special edition of 4 suggested to me that there are still people at Capcom capable of making a half-decent character action game. Now all we need is a Dragon's Dogma 2 and I'll be all good with them.

Other than that, a really solid effort this year. Kinda baffled that Halo wasn't more than a tease, but I'm very excited for that From Software Sekiro thing and also when Cyberpunk 2077 comes out in approximately 2-5 years.

@panfoot: Right, the arm and the sword makes it almost undeniable but I was mostly going by the face. He's facial structure is completely different.

@liquiddragon: Character models shouldn't be indicators of anything, especially when it comes to Capcom games. Almost every character they have across every game series they have looks completely different in every iteration of their games. They just make the models look the best they can for whatever the contemporary tech they're running the game on.

@liquidprince: @liquiddragon:

Totally, this is Capcom after all...after all it wasn't so long ago that we went through "Wait, THAT'S Chris Redfield???" with RE7. If anything DMC5 Nero reminds me of the Scalebound protagonist...

Can we get like a big list of game names for everything they showed? I have a hard time remembering. And that is because they showed a lot of stuff and to me that is a pretty good conference. Sony did this some time ago and has since moved away from that format for some reason. The best conference for me is one where its nearly endless stream of trailers and gameplay clips. I don't need devs coming out and talking on this stage. If there is a particular game I'm interested in then I was go seek out that extra info.

SO, that all being said, games and thoughts I can remember:

Sekiro - Looks rad. Give me more Souls-ish or From Software art style stuff now. Nothing else needs to be said.

Cyberpunk - Looks rad. Give me this now. Loved the interpretation of the dude's car. Gave me a Mad Max Interceptor vibe. I hope this game has a fuckin killer synth soundtrack. I've barely played the Witcher games for reasons its hard to put a finger on. Controls and feel I guess. Hope they look to Kung Fury for additional inspiration.

Fallout 76 - I was expecting something more.. different. When people were saying this was like right after the bombs fell, I was thinking.. okay I guess it'd be cool to see the wasteland thats even more harsh, blanketed in chaos and fire. Things like factions or other social structures hadn't formed yet. Instead, this just looks like more Fallout, even farther into the future in wasteland that's lush and begun to recover if anything. Ehhh so far.

Forza Horizon 5 - Ehhh.. Getting more and more tired of these games now. Just looks like more of the same. I wouldn't call altering the world color palette a big gameplay changer. Seasons is something I've wanted in other genres like RPGs and Survival games where it would have more relevance. Not really in this sorta racing game. Also, I don't know if it's just me but the car control looked even more arcade-y and I thought Horizons had already struck the perfect balance of sim/arcade for that style of game. I want something kinda realistic. I don't want Burnout handling.

Ori - Ehhh I dunno. I played the original for a little bit. Absolutely loved the way it looked and felt but just kinda stopped, apparently early on, because I've heard that game turns into one of those really hard/fast/tight platformers and I have no interest in that and thus never went back to it. So I may skip out on this as well unless it's more chill.

Dying Light 2 - Didn't play the original. Think I've only seen the Quick Look. That game didn't really jump out to me but Brad is always going on about it which makes me think I missed something. Maybe this will be where I try it? Certainly looked pretty.

Jump Force - I'm mostly interested to see how this fits into the post-Dragon Ball FighterZ climate. While that game is extremely pretty and gets the look right (and I kinda bought it just for that and played it for 10 mins), I can see how the structure and style of the Tenkaichi games or Burst Limit fits more into what I like about Dragon Ball as an anime. I'm assuming this will play like one of those 3D fighters.

Metro: Exodus - Did not really have much interest in this series until I picked up the two game remaster bundle off Steam for $10 a couple months ago and played through the first game. Pretty cool and I miss linear, atmospheric shooters. Interested in this one.

Tunic - This looked cool. Love the art style. Definitely want to play this.

Tomb Raider - Eh we'll see. I kinda liked Rise of the Tomb Raider. Might try this.. or not.

Black Desert Whatever - I like MMOs. This is just another one in the endless stream of Eastern based MMOs that look incredible in trailers and such but when you watch actual gameplay and hear how the game works its like.. Nah this seems dumb. Such a shame. FF11 and FF14 continue to be the outliers.

Stuff I don't really have any interest in: Division 2, Devil May Cry 5 (give me a game closer to the original game, with less of all this youth-tude stuff and modern setting), Gears series, Just Cause 4, Kingdom Hearts, Crackdown.

There was that montage of games that probably had a bunch of cool looking stuff in it but I can't remember.

So yea overall that was pretty good. My Xbox One S continues to collect dust and gets turned on maybe once a year but we'll see. Based on what Sony said they're doing with their conference I am almost expecting Xboxs show to be the highlight.. I don't know why Sony is doing what they are doing.

@liquidprince: I'm not saying it should or shouldn't and they usually make them at least recognizable through out the iterations but this Nero looks completely different. Do you not agree with me that he doesn't look anything like Nero?

@liquiddragon: I agree 100% he looks nothing like the original Nero. But I knew it was him as soon as I heard the voice. It helps that my younger brother played through the game relatively recently.

@panfoot: I think with Chris, it was very surprising but the fidelity jump was so big last gen. Character models look better now but it's not a crazy jump.

@liquidprince: Anyway, the game looks good across the board. I don't really get hyped for shit anymore but I am very excited for this!!!

I wouldn't be surprised if they redesigned Nero to look significantly less like Dante, given how much confusion there was when DMC 4 was relevant.

@arbitrarywater: Throughout the first few seconds of the trailer I actually thought the game might have been DmC 2. He looks similar to the Dante from that game.

@arbitrarywater: That's a good point. I guess the little scruff wasn't enough for ppl.

This was a good conference, well done Microsoft. Lots of stuff to be excited about and a seriously thinking of upgrading to an Xbox One X now and signing up for Game Pass.

Wish DMC was getting done by Ninja Theory but still looks good. Can't wait for Cyberpunk 2077! Division 2 looks like more Division, I played the hell out of that first game and will probably do the same here. I play all the Forza games, but wasn't super excited coming into this one. Looks like they are making some pretty good changes in this one that is keeping me interested. Didn't like the first Dying Light but the sequel looks promising. Hoping I like Just Cause 4 more than I did the last one. Don't like any of FromSoftware's games and the trailer here did nothing for me either. Crackdown is still looking rough and could not care any less about a new Battletoads.

Best moment of the whole thing was when the Gears logos comes up on screen, the crowd gets hyped and then frigging Gears themed Pop Vinyl figures jump through it. I completely lost it. I wished they had just left it there with no other Gears announcements. Saying that Gear Tactics looks like it could be really cool, I love XCOM. Still havn't got around to playing Gears 4 so will have to get that done before 5 and don't know enough about Halo Infinite at this stage.

They finally showed some games you want to play. I can't remember the last time I turned on my Xbox that wasn't to watch something on Plex but with these new studio acquisitions and roadmap they have me very excited with what is to come.

I have an Xbox One, but it’s sat on a shelf for the past two years unplugged, and after this presentation I don’t know if I should hook it up again. I do the majority of my gaming on my PC, and if Gears 5, Crackdown 3 and other Microsoft exclusives are available on that platform, then I can’t see a reason to dust off my Xbox. That might not be that bad a decision since I am excited by their intension to restore their game library. Predictable release, but I’m still up for more Halo.

Can I get excited about We Happy Few again?

Also, there was a game called Sable in that montage that looked neat. Actually, there was a lot of games in that montage that looked neat.

Crackdown 3, Cyberpunk, Tunic, Ori, Horizon 5, Jump Force, and DMC5 would have been more than enough for me, but Sekiro blew the doors off this motherfucker. It's been more than a year, so I feel comfortable saying Nioh is one of my favorite games ever. A bigger, crazier version of that made by the people who made the thing Nioh was originally inspired by? Yes, please.

Cuphead DLC! Some good titles shown at a fast pace, this was Microsoft's best conference for sure.

It was way better than I thought it would be. There was a lot of games that look really good. Cyberpunk, Tunic, Ori 2, Cuphead DLC, Dying Light 2, DMC 5, Sekiro, Gears Tactics all look great. I didn't think I could really be bothered to care about another Forza but that actually looked cool. High marks in spite of Kingdom Hearts 3.

I’m glad they’re investing in games. I’m glad they have a pretty filled slate for 2019. I’m excited for the new Gears and happy to see third party support in force.

But there’s one (correct me if I’m wrong) Xbox / PC exclusive coming this fall, Forza. That’s a problem, and it’s a frustrating demonstration of how far behind Microsoft is in comparison to Sony.

I don’t really care about console wars, I have all three and play most of my games on PC. But Microsoft’s releases schedule this year is light, and I hope this is the exception and not the rule.

They filled a lot of time with third party multi-platform games. Just...not what they needed to do. Those studios they acquired better start producing fast.

@qrowdyy: it’s gonna take time, but I think in the long run it will work out.

This was honestly one of the best press conferences of the generation. This is that sweet spot of the cycle, when developers start to master the hardware and amazing games come at a consistent clip for a few years. And hell, this time around they even have boosted specs to work with.

I feel really good about where Microsoft's game division will be in a couple years. They spent most of this generation fixing mistakes and looking ahead to the X, but they're finally on solid ground and ready to go.

Where they will be in years could be good, but right now they're still relying on Halo, Gears, and Forza WAY too much. Crackdown 3 looked awful. They should've invested in first party years ago. I want MS to do well since I have a X1 and PS4... the latter has so many good exclusives while the X1's best exclusive is Sunset Overdrive... I guess, which isn't a very good game. I only play on my X1 more than PS4 because that's where all my friends are.

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Sekiro
• Tomb Raider
• Dying Light 2
• Conqueror's Blade
• Sable
• Harold Halibut
• Totem Teller

Fantastic showing.

MS best showing for a long time, game wise wasn't anything really different. Only a cinematic trailer for Halo means it probably surprisingly a long way off, then Gears being the opposite showed a good amount of variety and colour and a decent chunk of gameplay looks alot closer than you would have thought. Forza Horizon 4 looks fantastic but it almost expected at this point.

Crackdown 3 was very brief with alot of quick cuts doesn't fill me with confidence. Then theirs the two real surprises Battletoads and Gears Tactics the former being just a logo is hard to judge one way or another and the latter was very brief all I got was its X-Com like and oddly only on PC.

The big news being the new studios which I think it pretty much sets MS back to square one, short term none will produce for 3-4 years it more of a next gen announcement. Playgrounds second team will makeup for the gape made from shutting Lionhead, and The Initiative will cover the hole left by Remedy. MS isn't really gaining anything from Undead Labs hopefully more polished title in the future.

The two interesting additions are Ninja Theory and Compulsion Game the former has a proven track record but hasn't been prolific recently and struggled financially too with an MS safety net they should do great, the latter is a far more unproven studio We Happy Few had a roller coaster reaction everyone was high with the Bioshock like reveal and then immediately down on the rogue-like survival gameplay weather or not Compulsion are a studio to get excited about we won't know until August.

The most pleasing aspect is next gen MS should have a more consistent and reliable content drops, rather than the ad-hoc 2nd party stuff which always peters out. Probably for the first time in an age MS sound all in.

Good show but not great.

Great third party showing but first party still relies too much on Halo (which we have seen little to nothing of), Gears and Forza.

For an outstanding conference it would have required at least one new first party AAA IP.