Dissecting Bethesdaland - An E3 Bethesda Predictions Breakdown

Bethesda have a lot of work to do this E3, with their official invite teasing information from eight games that will be announced. There’s some classics, as well as at least two new IPs being shown at the event, and if you’re as excited as we are, then we’re betting that you’ll be eager to hear our E3 predictions for the gaming giant.

Above is one of the invites that Bethesda have sent to the press; they take the form of a fictional theme park. Bethesdaland is apparently a world of fun, fire and flashing images with dragons, demons and Dogmeat all available for your pleasure. Seems like the kind of park you’d visit? Good, then stick with us, as we run through the games shown (or not shown as it may be) and discuss our predictions for the big Bethesda show.

Dishonored 2

There were definitely a number of issues at the launch of Dishonored 2, so since launch, it’s been quite quiet. The thing is, porting issues aside, the game was pretty well received and a lot of people quite liked it. Now that the “teething issues” have died down, it’s bound to be time for the game’s first DLC. I wouldn’t mind betting that we’ll see something launch very soon after E3 itself, we’d be surprised if they hadn’t planned for DLC, but the PC issues will have set them back.

Doom

One of the surprise hits of 2016, the recreated Doom universe has been loved by almost everyone who played it. It was certainly this writer’s game of 2016, and it’s still getting playtime now with so many collectibles and retro levels to find.

We know that Bethesda have planned on there not being any single player DLC for the game, they announced that right at the offset, and they’re generally pretty true to their word. With that in mind, if Doom is present then could we see an announcement of a sequel? Probably an announcement now for a title due in 2019.

Fallout 4

We already know that Fallout 4 is getting a VR release, that was announced at E3 2016, but it’s due for a launch this year so we’re expecting to see some full hands-on playtime with the game. It’s an HTC Vive exclusive as far as we know at the moment, but expect to see that expand to the PSVR as well as Bethesda look for a share of the lucrative console market.

Prey

Well Prey was pretty good, wasn’t it? It blindsided a few people this one; it had nothing to do with the original game and after the launch issues with Dishonored 2, we weren’t expecting much. But with near-universal praise being heaped on the game, there’s no denying that Arkane did a great job with this one.

With the game going down generally well amongst people who remember to back their stuff up, it’s almost certain that we will see a DLC announcement at E3. We already know that it’s in the plans, so expect to see something coming very soon.

Quake Champions

It’s in closed beta now, so we are expecting to get a launch date for Quake Champions at the expo. Initial reports are suggesting that it’s running pretty well so our money is on an August launch to help this free-to-play shooter capitalise on the summer holidays.

Skyrim

There’s a Switch version of Skyrim coming, and we still don’t know exactly what form it will take, but we do know that Bethesda really like the console, as they have stated as such. Most likely we will see some more of the Morrowind expansion for Elder Scrolls Online as well.

We know that the company are working on a mobile title, our betting is that it will be Skyrim themed. Given the success of Fallout Shelter, it would make perfect sense to have a mobile title based around their other big franchise.

Mystery IPs

 You’ll notice that two rides at Bethesdaland are under construction. What could they be? There are a few rumours floating about, but there’s whispers of a new IP, and such things are all the rage at the moment too.

A few years back, the names “Giant Monster News” and “Starfield” were both registered as trademarks. We’re pretty certain that Starfield is a game name, but the other is a mystery to everyone. Likely it’s something in game, as it’d be a rubbish game title. Our expectation is that Starfield is a single player RPG in the Fallout mould. Think Mass Effect but with better faces. We’re hoping for a formal announcement to come at E3.

We’re going to assume the second is The Evil Within 2. The first game was a moderate hit, and there’s been a number of rumours circulating, including a leaked job description for a QA tester for the game. Given what a huge title it was initially, we’d be amazed if this wasn’t the second of those mystery games.

What we expect not to see

• Elder Scrolls VI – Bethesda have made it clear they want those two unannounced games sorted before they start work on this.
• Wolfenstein – With Doom and Quake both getting centre stage, the company’s other classic shooter IP will have to take a back seat for a bit.

• Call of Cthulu – There’s been a lot of rumours floating around about this getting a reboot, but we’re not holding our breath. If they still haven’t patched the bugs out of the 2005 game, there we’re assuming it’s not high on their priority. Plus, there’s the small matter of Focus’ game based on the same book coming out soon.