Nothing quite gets gamers and the press champing at the bit like the last minute announcements and rumors that circulate in the weeks leading up to E3. This flurry of activity came to a surprising head today. Nestled among the usual tweets about Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, and Dragon quest, Square Enix announced on its Twitter account that it would host a showcase for E3 2018.
In terms of details, the showcase takes place on June 11th at 11 AM PDT or 19 PM CEST, and 2 AM JST. As a rather unorthodox approach to the usual Los Angeles-based physical presentation we’ve grown accustomed to at E3, Square Enix have vowed to provide details about upcoming titles and special announcements by way of a per-recorded live stream. This does remove the chance of oft-amusing live mishaps, but conversely means the developer means business.
You can catch the showcase on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, Twitter, Facebook, and Square Enix’s own website. The stream will be free to view and presented in both English and Japanese. Of course, it will be available for viewers after the event for those who are not able to tune in on the day.
As for what Square Enix plans to showcase, your guess is as good as ours. The studio provided this unrevealing response to the question in the announcement FAQ; ‘Find out here on June 11!’ Details about Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Dragon Quest XI Western release, and Kingdom Hearts 3 are more or less guaranteed. There’s nothing wrong with dabbling in a bit of speculation though, so I’m banking on information about the Final Fantasy VII remake and possibly some visual flair for Square Enix’s Avengers game. If I’m being greedy, Final Fantasy XVI will be on the bill as well.
The announcement tagline of ‘we’ll connect you to the many worlds within our universe’ hints at a variety of games. Coupled with this is the fact that Square Enix last showcased at E3 in 2015. For them to actually show up suggests they have some big reveals and announcements up their sleeve. To say we’re excited is an understatement. Bring on June 11th.