E3 is a whirlwind of announcements, trailer reveals, gameplay demos, and insightful interviews, and 2018 was no exception. Starting with Sony’s week of announcements leading up to the show, to all of the major press conferences, and straight through a show filled with hands-on impressions, there were hundreds of stories throughout the week. That’s why we thought it would be a good idea to wade through it all and highlight the stories that are going to ultimately have the biggest impact on our industry going forward.

From Microsoft bolstering its first-party studios, to a VERY busy February, to the surprise reveal of The Elder Scrolls 6, here are the 10 most important stories of E3 2018.

CYBERPUNK 2077 FIRST GAMEPLAY DETAILS

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It’s no secret that CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 was an important game at this year’s E3. The trailer that capped off Microsoft’s conference was impressive, but it was the 45 minute behind-closed-doors gameplay demo that vaulted it to the top of our most anticipated list, securing it our award for E3 2018 Game of the Show.

But the real news out of E3 were the surprising first gameplay details we learned from our demo. For starters, CD Projekt is foregoing The Witcher’s third-person perspective in favor of delivering a first-person dystopian RPG. We’ll play as a character named V, but we have the ability to fully customize V’s race, gender, and backstory. Driving around Night City will play a big role in Cyberpunk, as will a relationship system that’s far deeper than Witcher’s. Finally, after some speculation that this might be a PlayStation 5/Xbox...uhh...Two game, CD Projekt confirmed that they are “targeting current-gen consoles.”

NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE NEW GEARS GAMES

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We had some suspicions that Microsoft would tease a new Gears of War game at E3, but we didn’t think it would be any more than that, given that Gears 4 only came out a year and a half ago. What we didn’t expect was not only a deep dive into Gears 5, but the announcement of two separate spin-off games.

The expansion of the Gears franchise into the strategy genre with Gears Tactics, and the...umm...whatever genre Gears Pop is going to be shows that Microsoft is viewing the Coalition’s series with the same degree of respect as Halo. In the same way Nintendo realized decades ago that Mario could successfully exist in games outside of just core platformers, Microsoft views Gears through the same lens. Suffice it to say, the future is bright for Kait, JD, Del, and Marcus.

DICE ADDRESSES 2017 LOOT BOX CONTROVERSY HEAD-ON

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EA’s E3 2018 showcase might not have had a whole lot of surprise reveals, but it certainly had a very important message that permeated through the conference. Literally six minutes into EA’s conference, General Manager of DICE Oskar Gabrielson took the stage to talk about October 19’s Battlefield V. It was there that he emphasized there would be “no loot boxes, no premium pass.” That sort of cut-and-dry statement is clearly a 180-degree shift from DICE’s previous game, and a response to the muddled confusion that surrounded how EA handled those very questions in 2017.

That wasn’t the last time we saw DICE on stage at the conference. About halfway through, Dennis Brannvall, Design Director at DICE, came out to talk about the state of Star Wars Battlefront 2. He started off on a shockingly honest note, saying, “We launched our game in November of last year, and clearly we didn’t get it quite right. So instead of coming out of the gate sprinting like we really wanted to, we had to take a step back and make sure we were delivering the game that our players really wanted.” For EA to use its biggest stage of the year for not one, but two mea culpas pointed towards a publisher and developer who has learned a lot of lessons from a very rough 2017

THE ELDER SCROLLS 6, STARFIELD, AND THE START OF “NEXT GEN”

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While we’re constantly speculating on what the future of our medium has in store, E3 2018 marks the beginning of folks in the industry directly referencing the next generation of consoles. This talk started during the final moments of Bethesda’s E3 2018 conference, when Todd Howard showed two brief teasers: Starfield, the long-rumored “third open-world pillar” for Bethesda, and The Elder Scrolls 6. When describing Starfield, the studio’s “first wholly original franchise in 25 years,” Howard used the words “next-gen.”

When Howard spoke of “next gen,” he didn’t mean mid-generation improvements like the Pro and the X, but, for lack of official names, the PlayStation 5 and the “Xbox Two,” which seems to be codenamed Scarlet. Given that we’re five years into the current generation, it was only a matter of time before talk of what’s next ramped up, and it seems like this E3 was the beginning of that road.

MICROSOFT’S FIRST PARTY STUDIOS GROW SUBSTANTIALLY

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One of the main criticisms against the Xbox One this generation has been its lack of first-party games, especially when compared with Sony’s offerings. Part of this stems from the cancellation of high-profile games like Scalebound and Fable Legends, as well as the multiple delays of games like Crackdown 3. But at E3 2018, Microsoft aimed to fix this problem by growing its first-party stable substantially.

At its conference, Microsoft announced the acquisitions of Forza Horizon developer Playground Games, State of Decay developer Undead Labs, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice developer Ninja Theory, and We Happy Few developer Compulsion Games. They also founded a new studio in Santa Monica called The Initiative. Though we won’t see the results of these deals immediately, it’s our thought that Microsoft is playing for tomorrow, but playing to win.

JUST DANCE 2019 COMING TO WII AND XBOX 360

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This story is on this list less because it’s going to change the foundation of gaming, and more because it’s just so incredibly surreal. Ubisoft revealed Just Dance 2019, which will be coming later this year to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. No surprise there.

But what is surprising is that the game is also coming to Xbox 360 (with full Kinect support), Wii U, and the original Wii. Yes, 2005’s Xbox 360 and 2006’s Wii will be getting a brand new game release in 2019. To put that in perspective, those consoles came out before the original Assassin’s Creed was revealed. What a time to be alive.

THE BEGINNING OF 2019 IS CRAZY, ESPECIALLY FEBRUARY 22

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While the rest of 2018 is packed with amazing games ranging from Spider-Man to Red Dead Redemption 2 to Smash Ultimate, the madness doesn’t stop there. As we learned at E3, the beginning of 2019 is shaping up to be historically packed with games, particularly February 22.

The last week of January has Resident Evil 2 coming out on the 25, and Kingdom Hearts 3 finally getting a release date of January 29. The long-delayed Crackdown 3 is currently set for sometime in February. But the big day is February 22, which sees Metro: Exodus, Days Gone, and Anthem. That’s probably the single biggest day for games since October 27, 2017, which saw Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, Super Mario Odyssey, and Assassin’s Creed Origins.

HALO INFINITE GETS A NEW ENGINE

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One of the biggest announcements of Microsoft’s conference for several reasons was the reveal of Halo Infinite. Obviously any news of a new Halo game is big, but Infinite is particularly important because it seems to address the faults of Halo 5, and points to a new direction for the series.

According to a post on Halo Waypoint, the studio heard "loud and clear" that players weren't fond of how little time Master Chief was featured as a playable character in Halo 5. As such, Halo Infinite will center around Master Chief and continue his story after what transpires in Guardians. Additionally, Halo Infinite will feature a new, modernized art style—showcased by Master Chief's new Helmet in the trailer—that pulls from the "most iconic and historic parts of the Halo franchise" as well as feedback from players. Finally, Infinite will employ the new Slipspace Engine, which was created by 343 Industries specifically for Halo. Check out the reveal trailer above.

FORTNITE CONTINUES ITS DOMINATION

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It’s rare for E3 to highlight a game that’s been out for nearly a year, but that’s exactly what happened this year with Fortnite. The not-so-surprising announcement of the game launching on Nintendo Switch proved to be huge, with two million downloads in the first day. Fortnite also dominated the eSports conversation during the week with its massively-popular tournament.

SONY’S BIG FOUR GET GAMEPLAY SHOWCASES

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But not all Fortnite news was positive. Its release on Switch brought some of the cross-play issues to the forefront, particularly with PS4 players not being able to carry over their existing Epic accounts to any other platforms. Sony’s half-hearted response to the issues definitely didn’t help. We knew that Sony would be focusing on its Big Four heading into E3 -- Spider-Man, The Last of Us: Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, and Death Stranding. What we didn’t know is that we’d get major gameplay trailers, story details, and mechanical deep-dives. Spider-Man’s demo ripped the lid off our question of which villains we’ll be facing off against by showcasing Vulture, Electro, and Rhino. The Last of Us: Part 2’s trailer juxtaposed a beautiful story beat with a brutal gameplay scene that showed off Ellie’s new survival mechanics Ghost of Tsushima highlighted its gorgeous aesthetic and fighting game-esque combat . And finally, Death Stranding’s enigmatic story now makes a bit more sense, and we finally have some idea of what we’ll actually be doing in the game.

Those are our picks for the biggest news stories of E3 2018. Did we miss anything major? Let us know!