EA

My biggest hope for EA is in regards to Star Wars. First off, in terms of the new Battlefront II that they really prove that they’ve learned a lesson from the issues of the prior game. This certainly seems to be the case, with the prominent inclusion of a single player campaign, but that wasn’t the only thing that made 2015’s Battlefront so mediocre. The multiplayer could also use a good deal of mechanical improvements, especially in the case of the vehicles and turrets. At the very least I certainly hope we see gameplay footage.

Beyond that, I want EA to do more with [their stranglehold on] the Star Wars licence than just churning out installments of an FPS and keeping their MMO afloat. I know many people would love to see a new entry in the Knights of the Old Republic series, again, beyond the MMO. Which would be amazing, I’d be ecstatic to see just about anything new related to KOTOR, even just a remake with updated visuals and mechanics. But there’s more to Star Wars games than just FPSs and RPGs. What about a new flight/space sim game, similar to the old X-Wing or Rogue Squadron series? Or a new action-adventure game like The Force Unleashed or that cancelled 1313 game? I just want more quality Star Wars games, and it looks like EA is going to be the only game in town for the foreseeable future.

Of course, I expect pretty much none of that. Oh, I think we’ll see a fair bit on Battlefront II, and we’ll hear that The Old Republic MMO is “still doing great, you guys!” But that’ll be it for Star Wars. Other than that, they’ll talk about how Mass Effect Andromeda totally isn’t as “meh” an entry in the series as the internet has made it out to be, and BioWare certainly isn’t a ghost of it’s former self. I mean, that or they’ll just avoid mentioning BioWare at all. And, yes, they’ll have their ever-present “SPORTS!SPORTS!SPORTS!” segment, obviously. We’ll also hear more about the new Need for Speed game, whose trailer looks more like a Fast and the Furious movie than a NFS game.

Microsoft

My hope? Forget about the Scorpio, just give me a reason to be excited about the XBox One. A system for which I own less games than for the just-launched Nintendo Switch. I know there are still XBox faithful out there, but for me Microsoft really fell flat on their face this ‘gen’. The Halo series doesn’t hold the status it once did and it seems to be the only ‘big deal’ XBox exclusive now. I mean, they swing some timed exclusives, sure, but not much else. They seem to especially be at a low point among my fellow Action-Adventure and Open-World fans, since both Nintendo and Sony currently each have a fantastic title out (Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Horizon Zero Dawn, respectively).

My only expectation is disappointment. I mean, there might be some cool trailers and stuff, but I doubt there will be anything that makes me happy to own an XBox One. I’d guess a lot of time will be spent on talking up the Scorpio, which I fully expect to be officially named the XBox 36O (three-six-oh) in following the genius naming of the XBox One. I bet they’ll be pushing to release some Halo thing for it’s launch.

Bethesda

ELDER. SCROLLS. SIX.

That’s all I want, Beth. It can just be an over-hyped announcement teaser. It can be a screen with nothing other than the words “Elder Scrolls VI”. I will take it. I’d also be thrilled to hear of another Obsidian developed, non-numbered Fallout game.

I don’t really expect that, of course. Though I’m not really sure what, if any, actual Bethesda-developed titles they’d have to talk about otherwise. I’m sure we’ll hear about ZeniMax Online’s Elder Scrolls MMO and their recently released Morrowind content. DLC for the new Prey game, maybe? Perhaps some news on some of the series they publish? I’d actually be pretty excited to hear about a new Wolfenstein game. Probably too soon for another Dishonored, but maybe some DLC news. Also it just feels like the time for news on a new Doom, but that’s a bit of a wildcard.

PC

Nothing. This is where hope goes to die.

I mean, there might be some interesting news, or a cool demo, sure. But these have been… not the best. And I’m a pretty big PC gamer, so I’m arguably the target audience. But hey, maybe this is the year they turn it around!