Microsoft was wise to announce the Xbox One before E3 last year. It opened up the annual trade show to focus exclusively on games since it got all the TV and sports out of the way at the May event. With E3 2014, will Microsoft continue its focus on games, or will we see a Doritos Xbox One app instead?
Speaking to a fan on Twitter, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer said that gamers wanting to see games won’t be disappointed at this year’s E3. The company’s press conference will focus less on executives announcing stuff and more on the games. In more encouraging news, Microsoft also has had to cut stuff to come within 90 minutes. In other words, Microsoft has a lot of stuff to announce at E3 and can’t fit it all into their press conference.
So, what’s going to happen to all the content being cut from the press conference? Will Microsoft host something like a Nintendo Direct where they speak directly with fans about upcoming games and products? It’s certainly a possibility, but Spencer is remaining mum at the moment. All he says is that there are plenty of places at E3 to make announcements:
@davidspringate @PotentialyGreat There are other places for us to announce things at E3. Day 2, 3 etc. Show things on the floor.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) March 23, 2014
For the Xbox One fan, this is incredibly exciting news. Much like the PS4, the Xbox One has been hurting for content since launch. It did just get Titanfall this month, but that’s only one game. While the Xbox One may appeal to the shooter fan now, Microsoft is going to need a lot more variety to appeal to more people going forward. At E3, we may just get some variety from Microsoft’s publishing partners around the world.
Besides focusing on just games, Microsoft also needs to avoid the kind of controversy that handed Sony an easy win at last year’s E3. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a return of Microsoft’s originally planed DRM, but it’s hard to say what will anger gamers and what won’t. If Microsoft continues to claim that Kinect is essential to the Xbox One, gamers may get angry over what they see as Microsoft forcing them to buy a peripheral they don’t want or need.
We’ll likely find out more over the coming months as Microsoft’s E3 press conference usually suffers from a few pre-show leaks. We might even learn a thing or two about the unannounced games we’ll see at the show – like a Halo 2 remake.
Image via IGN
