Top 10 Worst E3 2019 Moments
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VOICE OVER: Dave Thibault
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
For this list, we're looking at the moments from E3 2019 that fell flat. If you're wanting a little more positivity, be sure to check out our Top 10 Best Moments from E3 2019 afterwards!
Top 10 Worst E3 2019 Moments
Thanks Ricky!
For this list, we’re looking at the moments from E3 2019 that fell flat. If you’re wanting a little more positivity, be sure to check out our Top 10 Best Moments from E3 2019 afterwards!
Regardless of them not having a press conference, EA still managed to find a way onto our worst list. There was a small voice in the back of our heads that was praying for some big reveal, a new game that showed they’ve learned from EA's many, MANY recent blunders. Alas, EA managed to waste an entire Saturday doing nothing. Sure, there was the gameplay reveal for “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order”, but the demo left much to be desired, making the game seem like a cookie-cutter action-RPG. They should’ve just skipped E3 entirely.
One of Fallout 76's biggest criticisms was the lack human NPCs. Something that nobody complained about at all was a lack of a battle royale mode. Ah, but let’s not fret, fellow Vault Dwellers! Bethesda is still updating the game for all 76 people in the world who still play it, and the newest updates are a treasure trove of pandering. The studio announced a new expansion coming later this year that will add human NPCs to “Fallout 76” as well as a new story. This was something that should have been included in the game, yet people applauded anyway. If that didn’t reek of pandering, then the new “Nuclear Winter” BR mode sure did. Bethesda practically pulled the same stunt EA did in 2018.
One of the most awkward moments from E3 2018 was Square Enix’s decision to release multiple trailers for “Kingdom Hearts III” without much audio. For some unknown reason, Square decided to do the same thing again for “Kingdom Hearts - Re:Mind”; only this time, with no VO’s - only music. The whole trailer came off as uninteresting and unprofessional, looking like something that was thrown together for a promoted social media post. Guys, this is E3. This is YOUR time to make your games stand out. If there was a better trailer that wasn’t ready before the conference, it should have been axed.
Oof, what a misstep… While we were in the midst of showcases and trailers, "Shenmue III" found itself in hot water with PC players. Publisher Deep Silver announced "Shenmue III" would launch as an Epic Games Store exclusive despite many Kickstarter backers opting for the Steam version. As one would expect, backers were outraged and began demanding refunds only to be refused. When PC Gamer reached out to Deep Silver, a PR representative stated the company was “looking into” issuing refunds while clarifying the exclusivity deal will last one year. At the time of writing, the Steam Store page for “Shenmue III” is still up and advertises a planned release date of “coming soon”. Not cool, guys.
Last year, Microsoft announced the long-awaited return of “Battletoads” with a brief teaser trailer. This year, they finally showed some gameplay, and hoooooo, boy, people are not happy. You can tell from the art style and animation that “Battletoads” was not given a hefty budget, making the game seem like a cheaply-made Toon Bloom cartoon. Characters such as the Dark Queen and the Battletoads themselves are almost unrecognizable. Needless to say, fans are not happy about this either. Many are calling for a change in visuals under the gameplay trailer’s YouTube page. Unfortunately, it may be too late in development to turn the ship around.
At one point in their conference, Xbox had displayed some text on-screen that said “A PC Legend comes to Xbox in 2020”. Phil Spencer proceeded to hype up this partnership with the supposedly “legendary” Smilegate and their supposedly “landmark” franchise. Behold…”Crossfire X”? WTF? Crossfire is a free to play Counter-Strike RIPOFF that is hugely popular in China and South Korea. That’s great and all, but Phil talked as if this was a household name, like he was about to make a groundbreaking announcement. The trailer didn’t explain what the game is about either! With underwhelming fanfare and severe miscommunication, something tells us “Crossfire” won’t be as popular in the West, and we're not saying we WANT it to crash and burn but... we're not saying we want it to success sooooooo...
There’s only ONE reason people go to E3, and that’s for the games. Emphasis on the “GAMES” part because Ubisoft still hasn’t gotten the memo. Rob McElhenney of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” fame took time out of Ubisoft’s conference to present his new TV series “Mythic Quest”, coming to Apple TV+. This was, perhaps, the most irrelevant announcement Ubisoft has ever made. It’s one thing to announce a film adaptation of your IP, but what about this was deemed necessary to waste your audience’s time? Because the show is centered on a fictional game studio? Had this been saved for something like San Diego Comic Con, reception would probably be better than it is now.
If it wasn’t for the sparkling logo in the back, we would have thought Bethesda’s conference was an EA conference, especially after what they did to our beloved “Commander Keen”. For those unfamiliar with the franchise, “Commander Keen” was one of the very first games developed by id Software. It was a side-scrolling platformer about a boy genius who travels the galaxy while fighting alien menaces like the Grand Intellect. Bethesda has now turned the IP into a mobile game, and from the looks of it, it’ll probably be just as microtransaction-heavy as “The Elder Scrolls: Blades”. This announcement only gave us flashbacks of what happened to “Command & Conquer” last year.
Ubisoft has always had weird conferences, but this year’s was downright terrible. Yeah, we’ll give them points for “Watch Dogs: Legion”; however, in addition to obsessing over Tom Clancy franchises, most of Ubisoft’s conference was spent on expansions. Updates on “Rainbow Six Siege” and “The Division 2” could have easily been saved for a panel, tweet, or blog post. These were simply not big or important enough to take up as much as they did on the stage, and it made the presentation feel like it would never end. Ubi should have kept the showcase short, sweet, and to the point.
Dear god, there were WAY too many mobile games shown this year! Square Enix spent time on “Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius”. Ubisoft shoved Sam Fisher into “Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad”. Bethesda talked about THREE mobile games, including the aforementioned “Commander Keen”. Microsoft has a “Gears of War” game styled after Funko POP toys. Its obvious these announcements were made specifically for shareholders, but let’s face it - mobile games are not what get people excited about E3. Why should we get excited about a free-to-play game that’ll most likely employ some shady monetization scheme? If there’s anything the booming presence of mobile games showed us, it’s that we now know where these companies’ heads are at.
Thanks Ricky!
For this list, we’re looking at the moments from E3 2019 that fell flat. If you’re wanting a little more positivity, be sure to check out our Top 10 Best Moments from E3 2019 afterwards!
#10: The Entire EA Play Stream
Regardless of them not having a press conference, EA still managed to find a way onto our worst list. There was a small voice in the back of our heads that was praying for some big reveal, a new game that showed they’ve learned from EA's many, MANY recent blunders. Alas, EA managed to waste an entire Saturday doing nothing. Sure, there was the gameplay reveal for “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order”, but the demo left much to be desired, making the game seem like a cookie-cutter action-RPG. They should’ve just skipped E3 entirely.
#9: “Fallout 76” Gets Applause for NPCs & Battle Royale
One of Fallout 76's biggest criticisms was the lack human NPCs. Something that nobody complained about at all was a lack of a battle royale mode. Ah, but let’s not fret, fellow Vault Dwellers! Bethesda is still updating the game for all 76 people in the world who still play it, and the newest updates are a treasure trove of pandering. The studio announced a new expansion coming later this year that will add human NPCs to “Fallout 76” as well as a new story. This was something that should have been included in the game, yet people applauded anyway. If that didn’t reek of pandering, then the new “Nuclear Winter” BR mode sure did. Bethesda practically pulled the same stunt EA did in 2018.
#8: “Kingdom Hearts - Re:Mind” Forgets to Include Audio
One of the most awkward moments from E3 2018 was Square Enix’s decision to release multiple trailers for “Kingdom Hearts III” without much audio. For some unknown reason, Square decided to do the same thing again for “Kingdom Hearts - Re:Mind”; only this time, with no VO’s - only music. The whole trailer came off as uninteresting and unprofessional, looking like something that was thrown together for a promoted social media post. Guys, this is E3. This is YOUR time to make your games stand out. If there was a better trailer that wasn’t ready before the conference, it should have been axed.
#7: “Shenmue III” Quietly Becomes an Epic Games Exclusive
Oof, what a misstep… While we were in the midst of showcases and trailers, "Shenmue III" found itself in hot water with PC players. Publisher Deep Silver announced "Shenmue III" would launch as an Epic Games Store exclusive despite many Kickstarter backers opting for the Steam version. As one would expect, backers were outraged and began demanding refunds only to be refused. When PC Gamer reached out to Deep Silver, a PR representative stated the company was “looking into” issuing refunds while clarifying the exclusivity deal will last one year. At the time of writing, the Steam Store page for “Shenmue III” is still up and advertises a planned release date of “coming soon”. Not cool, guys.
#6: The “Battletoads” Letdown
Last year, Microsoft announced the long-awaited return of “Battletoads” with a brief teaser trailer. This year, they finally showed some gameplay, and hoooooo, boy, people are not happy. You can tell from the art style and animation that “Battletoads” was not given a hefty budget, making the game seem like a cheaply-made Toon Bloom cartoon. Characters such as the Dark Queen and the Battletoads themselves are almost unrecognizable. Needless to say, fans are not happy about this either. Many are calling for a change in visuals under the gameplay trailer’s YouTube page. Unfortunately, it may be too late in development to turn the ship around.
#5: “Crossfire X”? ...WTF?
At one point in their conference, Xbox had displayed some text on-screen that said “A PC Legend comes to Xbox in 2020”. Phil Spencer proceeded to hype up this partnership with the supposedly “legendary” Smilegate and their supposedly “landmark” franchise. Behold…”Crossfire X”? WTF? Crossfire is a free to play Counter-Strike RIPOFF that is hugely popular in China and South Korea. That’s great and all, but Phil talked as if this was a household name, like he was about to make a groundbreaking announcement. The trailer didn’t explain what the game is about either! With underwhelming fanfare and severe miscommunication, something tells us “Crossfire” won’t be as popular in the West, and we're not saying we WANT it to crash and burn but... we're not saying we want it to success sooooooo...
#4: “Mythic Quest” TV Show
There’s only ONE reason people go to E3, and that’s for the games. Emphasis on the “GAMES” part because Ubisoft still hasn’t gotten the memo. Rob McElhenney of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” fame took time out of Ubisoft’s conference to present his new TV series “Mythic Quest”, coming to Apple TV+. This was, perhaps, the most irrelevant announcement Ubisoft has ever made. It’s one thing to announce a film adaptation of your IP, but what about this was deemed necessary to waste your audience’s time? Because the show is centered on a fictional game studio? Had this been saved for something like San Diego Comic Con, reception would probably be better than it is now.
#3: The Fall of “Commander Keen”
If it wasn’t for the sparkling logo in the back, we would have thought Bethesda’s conference was an EA conference, especially after what they did to our beloved “Commander Keen”. For those unfamiliar with the franchise, “Commander Keen” was one of the very first games developed by id Software. It was a side-scrolling platformer about a boy genius who travels the galaxy while fighting alien menaces like the Grand Intellect. Bethesda has now turned the IP into a mobile game, and from the looks of it, it’ll probably be just as microtransaction-heavy as “The Elder Scrolls: Blades”. This announcement only gave us flashbacks of what happened to “Command & Conquer” last year.
#2: Too Many Ubisoft Expansions
Ubisoft has always had weird conferences, but this year’s was downright terrible. Yeah, we’ll give them points for “Watch Dogs: Legion”; however, in addition to obsessing over Tom Clancy franchises, most of Ubisoft’s conference was spent on expansions. Updates on “Rainbow Six Siege” and “The Division 2” could have easily been saved for a panel, tweet, or blog post. These were simply not big or important enough to take up as much as they did on the stage, and it made the presentation feel like it would never end. Ubi should have kept the showcase short, sweet, and to the point.
#1: Mobile Games OVERLOAD
Dear god, there were WAY too many mobile games shown this year! Square Enix spent time on “Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius”. Ubisoft shoved Sam Fisher into “Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad”. Bethesda talked about THREE mobile games, including the aforementioned “Commander Keen”. Microsoft has a “Gears of War” game styled after Funko POP toys. Its obvious these announcements were made specifically for shareholders, but let’s face it - mobile games are not what get people excited about E3. Why should we get excited about a free-to-play game that’ll most likely employ some shady monetization scheme? If there’s anything the booming presence of mobile games showed us, it’s that we now know where these companies’ heads are at.
