Five Virtual-E3 Predictions From the Lords of Gaming

E3 may be cancelled this year, but that doesn’t mean that June won’t see big game reveals, leaks, announcements and much more. Last week, Sony, EA, and others delayed their events as a result of the tragic killing of George Floyd in the United States and the subsequent protests. However, this week will see the second big event following the Inside Xbox stream in May. So, in that spirit, the Lords of Gaming came together to put forth our E3 predictions for what is coming over the next month.

1. Sony Will Release The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima Remasters for PS5

Ghost of Tsushima comes in 2020

Despite Sony’s backward compatibility plans for the PS5, rumors will begin surfacing of re-releases for The Last of US Part II and Ghost of Tsushima with the PS5 with graphical enhancements. Like the first The Last of Us, the game released at the tail-end of the PS3’s lifecycle and the game was remastered and released shortly after the launch of the PS4. There’s a big chance that history repeats itself with both titles, as they’re being released just ahead of PlayStation 5’s launch. It’s also worth noting that Sony Interactive President and CEO, Jim Ryan, recently mentioned how game development costs are ballooning. So, it’s highly probable that both PS4 exclusives will get the remastered next-gen treatment to recoup some additional revenue

2. Insomniac Isn’t Working on Spider-Man 2

Instead of Spider-Man 2, Insomniac’s next project will be announced as a reboot of Ratchet & Clank. It’s been 4 years since the last title in the franchise, and while the game didn’t have a post credits scene (to my knowledge), the movie did which showed Dr. Nefarious’ classic robotic form. None of the big three, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, or Ratchet and Clank really made the transition to the PS4 era, and given the lean into nostalgia from the early 3D polygon games, Ratchet and Clank would be a perfect candidate for a resurrection. Further, Ratchet & Clank is arguably the cornerstone of Insomniac Games. They’ll go back to them one day, why not this year? It would certainly be more interesting than another Knack.

3. The PS5 Will Be Black

No E3 predictions piece would be complete without some hardware speculation. Sony have already released images of its new controller, the DualSense, and it was a strange combination of black and white, which didn’t go down too well. In their recent YouTube video “PS5 – The Future of Gaming,” however, the DualSense remained in shadow and seemed much darker than its original white showing. That’s because it’s going to offered in black—at least that’s what I think…hope. Maybe Sony realized that the color wasn’t popular, but more likely is that the console will be offered in both black and white, like the Nintendo Switch. Or maybe we’ll see some kind of inverse effect: one console/controller being majority white with some black accents, like we’ve seen, while the other is black with white accents. Whatever the case, let’s hope we’re not stuck with the original design—I really don’t want that Stormtrooper-looking thing in my house

4. Fable from Playground Games is Announced for Launch of Xbox Series X

This was heavily speculated about last E3; however, nothing came of it. There was a time when the Xbox brand was tied to three franchises: Halo, Forza, and Fable. These three pillars offered a diversity of play that was the hallmark of the original Xbox. Now with Halo: Infinite and Forza Motorsport 8 as virtual locks to ring in the new generation, this is the perfect time for Fable to return to prominence and be the RPG to play at the onset of the next generation.

5. The Order: 1886 Sequel Is Real, Larger In Size And Scope

As part of the first wave of major first party games for the PS4, Ready At Dawn released The Order 1886. Sony went as far as to give the game a Super Bowl commercial and a large statue collectors edition. Before review embargoes could even end consumers were launching the game to find out it was a five and a half hour QTE event. The story was amazing and the game is still one of the best looking PS4 games ever. Some job postings back in 2017 show the company was hard at work on another AAA project with an exclusive partner. Will Sony give them another shot to get it right?

Those are our virtual E3 predictions for 2020. We can’t wait to see what is coming to us in the weeks ahead. Be sure to keep an eye on our event tracker so you don’t miss a single announcement.

Joshua Reding

I am the former Editor in Chief of Lords of Gaming. I write about the philosophical underpinnings of video games, and narrative structures. Occasionally, I publish a novels in my ongoing series, The Heart Quest Saga.