E3 Post-Show Analysis: Bethesda

Airing late last Sunday night only a few hours after Microsoft, Bethesda had to follow up one heck of a show from the hardware developer. How’d they stack up?

Bethesda’s show got off to a rough start, opening with a rock concert that no one was expecting (and most wouldn’t have asked for) courtesy of Andrew W.K. The upbeat (if dark) song was meant to be the lead in for Avalance Studios and idTech’s co-developed title RAGE 2.  RAGE 2 looks to want to make a dystopia as “fun” as possible, mixing bright color palettes and awesome superpowers with out of control gangs and giant monsters coming out of nowhere. Avalanche really has its vehicles down–they looked cool and over the top in the best way. What was most surprising here was the lack of a release date–the nebulous “Spring 2019” is typically reserved for games that are likely going to shift to another date or games that want to launch in relatively empty spots to maximize chances of success.

There was an all too brief trailer centered around Doom Eternal, idTech’s upcoming installment to one of the oldest franchises of all time. We didn’t get much gameplay, as they confirmed that would make an appearance during QuakeCon this August. “Eternal” sounds very much like this title won’t be single-player only, and will emphasize multiplayer of some sort. After making such a big deal of #SavePlayer1 last Game Awards, that would become something of a trend with this conference.

Speaking of Quake, Quake Champions made a re-appearance. Offering a week where players could download the game for free and have it forever, they presented another new trailer showing off the developments in the world since the game was launched two years ago in Early Access. They’re still a ways from a final release, but I’d imagine fans will hear more at QuakeCon.

As expected, Prey presented it’s new DLC–they added a New Game Plus, a Survival mode, and a substantial DLC called Mooncrash, a procedurally generated story that changes every time you play it. They also promised a new DLC installment later known as Typhon Hunt–allowing players to disguise themselves as the game’s monsters in a multiplayer focused mode.

Of course, the popular Wolfenstein series received it’s follow-up game.  Showing the story of main character BJ’s two daughters, Wolfenstein II: Youngblood is set in the 1980’s and is meant to be an adventure that can be played either co-op or solo, launching in 2019. They also snuck in a VR game, Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot, because Bethesda isn’t quite done yet with their VR experiment.

Lastly, Todd Howard came up with a lengthy explanation of all the titles coming from Bethesda Game Studios–including their new survival co-op Fallout, their mega popular Fallout Shelter mobile game coming to consoles, and a mobile Elder Scrolls RPG. The Fallout segment lasted the longest, as they needed to explain how the game worked and how it was different from the Fallout titles before it. The team’s aim seemed to be to simply open the game up for some co-op play rather than go full MMO, as Howard mentioned each server would have dozens, rather than hundreds of people.

Of course, the biggest surprises came at the end: after years of endless speculation, Howard confirmed the existence of his studio’s next two titles: the highly anticipated Starfield, and Elder Scrolls VI. Both seem to be explicitly designed for next-gen, making them a part of the very first games confirmed to be designed for upcoming systems rather than what’s already on the market.
Overall, Bethesda put on the strongest show they could given their last two years were both incredibly strong release years for them. There weren’t many actual games there in favor of DLC for existing games, and that likely isn’t very enticing unless you’re a part of the fanbase of those games to begin with.  This felt like more of a reload year for Bethesda, but they still came with a few surprises like RAGE 2 and Fallout ’76.
While I AM disappointed their next project to come out prior to Elder Scrolls VI was just multiplayer Fallout, that seemed to be the theme for Bethesda in general this year. Fallout ’76, Quake Champions, Prey DLC, Wolfenstein: Youngblood–all of them had either very strong co-op or Games as a Service elements. They haven’t given up on single player games–not with RAGE, Starfield, and TESVI coming out in the future.
Still, their conference was well paced and the last two announcements were exciting, even if they were clearly done just to get people to stop asking them about those games.
Grade: B