There was a lot of content in Microsoft’s E3 2017 conference. They brought Forza Motorsport 7, Sea of Thieves, and Crackdown 3 as a some of their first-party offerings. They showcased Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Bioware’s new IP Anthem, and Metro: Exodus as proof that 3rd parties are supporting the Xbox One X’s 4K capabilities. If you want a comprehensive list of all the trailers and reveals from Microsoft’s E3 2017 conference, look no further.
But it’s not just content that matters in conferences, as much as we’d like to think so. How Microsoft decided to showcase the 42 games on their stage was also hugely important. They did so with brevity, respect to developers, and variety.
Jumping Right Into the Scorpio Den
Microsoft wasted no time in revealing their new 4K console equipped with 12 gigabytes of GDDR5 and a 6 teraflop GPU. They did so with a flashy trailer that showcased a young woman playing the system, bringing digitized facsimiles of characters like Master Chief, Marcus Fenix, and more to life.
Phil Spencer, the head of the Xbox division, came out on stage to quickly dish out console specs and unveil its official name: Xbox One X. Even with this, it wasn’t long until the first game showed up, and the conference rarely lets up from there.
Back to Back to Back Games
Forza Motorsport 7 came in hot right out of the gate. Again, Microsoft used women to demonstrate the Xbox One X. It was an interesting and inclusive move in an industry that’s often overburdened with sexism. The game looked gorgeous. After a brief pitstop to talk about the Porsche 911 GT2RS (Microsoft loves to bring cars on stage for Forza), they went right back to games.
With the simple words “World Premiere” – something the audience would have to get used to seeing very quickly – Microsoft moved on to gameplay of Metro: Exodus. Then, following a brief few words from Ubisoft, the conference moved on to Assassin’s Creed: Origins gameplay.
Then, from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to Deep Rocks Galactic. From to State of Decay 2 to The Darwin Project. Minecraft (of course) to Dragon Ball Fighter Z to Black Desert to The Last Night to The Artful Escape to CodeVein – Microsoft never lets off the gas. With carefully selected variations of the phrase “Xbox One X Launch Exclusive,” Microsoft’s E3 2017 conference was, undeniably, about games. They didn’t need to say much in between because the games spoke for themselves.
They showed quite a bit more, including the long-awaited Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3, but they ended with two big major bullet points. The price of the console ($599) and Bioware’s next big game, Anthem. Microsoft’s conference, while not chock full of AAA first-party titles or crazy gimmicks, was so well paced that it hardly mattered.
Microsoft’s E3 conferences have been steadily improving in content and presentation for the past few years. With this showing, they’ve shown they understand the need to showcase games before anything else. By keeping the pace rocksteady, they positioned their brand as gamer-friendly as possible. When companies just show games and let them speak for themselves, we all win.
For more E3 2017 coverage, stay tuned to The Game Fanatics.
