June is here, meaning it’s time for E3 – which is happening as a digital event this year. It’s… kind of complicated, in a way, as it’s not just E3 this year. Summer Game Fest is also making itself known as a June event that intertwines with E3. In other words, June really does seem to be the celebration of gaming I’ve always thought of it as. The final words article needs a date set, so that will be the end of E3, either the 16th or 17th.

The usual suspects are here, with Microsoft having an Xbox and Bethesda showcase on the 13th, bringing 90 minutes full of announcements. Nintendo have confirmed their E3 Direct will be happening on the 15th, with three hours of Treehouse streams immediately after it ends. Ubisoft bring another of their Forward events on the 12th. While EA won’t be hosting their Play Live event until July, they’ll still be around – starting with the Battlefield reveal on the 9th. There are plenty of other conferences happening within those dates as well.

As for Summer Game Fest, the Kick Off Live event starts things off on the 10th. A Summer Game Fest event during the Netflix Geeked Week takes place on its last day of the 11th, talking video game films and series that are hitting the platform. Summer Game Fest will also be showing off a few of the E3 events, such as Microsoft and Ubisoft’s events. The Sonic Symphony Orchestra event announced during the recent Sonic Central will be the last event of June (unless more get announced throughout this month).

For Kick Off Live, I’m expecting GTA reveals will happen here. An event not tied to any of the major three. But what GTA reveals? A full blowout of past, present, and future? Well, I suspect the past and present will feature, with announcements of the rumoured GTA Trilogy remake and a proper look at GTA V’s expanded and enhanced release for this current generation. Seems a bit too early for a GTA VI reveal, though.

But… GTA III revolutionised the series. It turns 20 this year. Why not show GTA VI as a timeline of how far the series has progressed since that time? GTA V – no matter what upgrades it might get for the current generation – is still a game from almost ten years ago. It would be truly mind blowing for such a thing to happen. Which is why it won’t, clearly, but it’s nice to hope that Rockstar might take advantage of such to give fans a massive surprise.

For LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, I expect something to come from an event. Summer Game Fest might be the perfect time for that. It’s super optimistic of me to be thinking this – especially since no leak so far has suggested such, but maybe it could also feature at Microsoft’s event as it will be hitting Game Pass at launch. And not only that, but the release of it is in July. Yeah, super optimistic, and very much not happening.

What would I like to see of it, though? Anything, really. There’s still so much we haven’t seen. We know how things are meant to happen, so let us see such in action. Give us a raw gameplay trailer showing take-off, travel between planets, then landing, to then exploring that planet. Show off all the new tech that’s been implemented, and impress upon everyone that evolution of the formula has indeed happened.

For Microsoft, Forza Horizon 5 seems likely. It’s been rumoured to be coming, and before the next Motorsport releases. I’m confident that we’ll be getting another great world to explore, but at what size? Around the size of Horizon’s 4’s seems to be a good bet, but maybe the game is only on the current generation? If that’s the case, I could see some expansion for it happening. Not too large, but large enough to get some truly great scenery within the world.

For other games Microsoft are sure to bring, Halo Infinite is definite. I’m curious about this one and am willing to give it a try. I’ve always said I wanted to jump into the Xbox back catalogue but have only slowly done so. Gears and Crackdown, and that’s about it. So Infinite will be my first Halo. On the Bethesda side of things, I’m wondering how far that Indiana Jones project is in development, and whether it’s a possibility it will show here.

I don’t have the largest investment in the series, but I do have confidence in MachineGames to create a good game. Their Wolfenstein series has been going strong since 2014, so let’s see what they can do with the Indiana Jones series. Lucasfilm Games had also announced back in January that Massive Entertainment were developing an open world Star Wars game. I’m interested to see that one, purely for the location. Are we restricted to one planet – but having it be the most detailed rendition of that planet yet, or are we hopping across the galaxy?

I don’t think we’ll be seeing that one, but I could be wrong. I’m also sure we won’t be seeing much in the way of EA’s Star Wars output, as it will most likely be saved for Play Live in July. Unless, of course, there’s an entire Lucasfilm Games segment at Kick Off Live that shows off not only the Indiana Jones and various Star Wars projects, but also a few of their originals returning. Perhaps even something new.

The only other thing I’m interested from Ubisoft – unless they bring a new Starlink game – is Riders Republic. With Ubisoft Annecy behind it, it should easily build on everything Steep delivered and more. With mountain biking added to the mix alongside the winter sports, there’s a bit more variety here – in both events and the world. No longer will we mostly be going down, and no longer will the world be mostly white.

For Nintendo, the obvious things I’m hoping for I’ve already talked of before. One of them is more likely than the other, as I doubt a Mii Resort Paradise experience will be coming this quickly after the resurgence the Miis have been seeing this year. So maybe next. The next Mario Kart, however, stands a good chance of being revealed – if not here, then sometime within the next six months. Much like Splatoon 3 was the last reveal of the previous Direct, I’m pretty sure Mario Kart will be so here.

Breath of the Wild’s sequel is certainly going to be within this Direct. It’s been a few years since it was announced, and over four years since Breath of the Wild’s release. I think the best time for its release would be as close to the first’s date as possible. An early March release didn’t harm the first game’s sales, and much like the first will be an evergreen title.

The release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus makes me feel such is going to happen, since it seems a bit suspect that game wouldn’t be targeting a March-April release when both Mystery Dungeon and New Pokémon Snap – which are arguably smaller games – released within the same period. It could also be that TPCi want Legends out before they announce generation nine. I wouldn’t be surprised if such was the case.

As for those Pokémon games, whether in a Pokémon Direct / Presents before E3, or at Nintendo’s E3 Direct, I am certain that both games will get more information revealed about them. Previous games have always featured in recent times – even if just with a segment in the Treehouse streams. And neither Legends nor the Diamond and Pearl remakes have been seen since they were announced. I’m more interested in seeing what Legends will offer, since the original trailer showed a great deal of promise with its concept. It’s simply a case of whether Game Freak can pull it off.

As ever, this is sure to be a wild week of announcements, showing off some greats along with some smaller yet brilliant games. It would be wonderful to see some true surprises here – such as a Power Rangers game that’s not an arena fighter, and I’m sure we will get them. Even if not that particular one.

There’s plenty of events within this next week bringing a slew of gaming news, and while I’ve played it mostly safe with my wishes, there’s a lot vaguer and concept related games I could also wish for. Those two I talked of in my last What I’m Waiting For, for instance, or even the open world racing RPG.

I’ll certainly be enjoying this coming week of gaming goodness, but how about you? What are you wishing for most from all these reveals?

Images Taken From:-
GTA III  / Vice City / San Andreas Steam Pages
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on Xbox.com
Forza Horizon 4 Microsoft Store Page
Riders Republic Twitter
Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – First Look Trailer
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Nintendo.co.uk Gallery
Pokémon Shining Pearl Nintendo.co.uk Gallery
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Nintendo.co.uk Gallery