E3 is about to begin! Which means, technically, it's already begun, with an avalanche of leaks, reveals, rumors, announcements, and other assorted news blasts as everyone tries to get their news blasts out ahead of all the other news blasts. Someday, perhaps in 2077 (opens in new tab), E3 will just begin in January.
Google had its press conference about Stadia yesterday, which is a fine place to start:
• You can buy games individually or subscribe for $9.99 a month (opens in new tab)
There's a limited founder's edition for $129, which comes with a three month subscription, a controller and Chromecast Ultra. Or you can buy games a la carte. Subscriptions will include games starting with Destiny 2, with others to be added.
• What games will be playable on Stadia? (opens in new tab)
A nice assortment including Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Doom Eternal, Baldur's Gate 3, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Elder Scrolls Online, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, and more. Plus they showed the Rockstar logo but didn't announce any Rockstar games, so we're expecting more announcements soon.
• Stadia 4K streaming will use up 1TB of data in 65 hours (opens in new tab)
Jarred crunched the numbers, and it's not great news for those of you with data caps if you do a lot of gaming. 65 hours isn't a whole lot, and that's if you do nothing else on your data plan besides playing games.
• Baldur's Gate 3 is real! (opens in new tab)
Real gross, that is! Didja see that dude barf and transform into a mind flayer? Eesh. But hey, Baldur's Gate 3 is happening and we've got the trailer and lots of info. It'll be on the PC Gaming Show on Monday, too! (opens in new tab)
• Watch Dogs Legion is also real, and set in post-Brexit London (opens in new tab)
You'll apparently be able to play as any citizen in the game, who will have "a full set of animations, voice over, character traits and visuals that are generated and guided by gameplay systems." Sounds cool! The scuttlebutt is Legion is headed up by Clint Hocking, who also directed Far Cry 2.
• Rainbow Six Quarantine, a new co-op shooter, might be real (opens in new tab)
It's a rumor, but it comes from a reliable source. It's potentially based on the Outbreak mode from Rainbow Six Siege that arrived in March 2018. We'll find out at E3.
• Overwatch 2 is another thing that might be real, maybe (opens in new tab)
Nothing official has been announced, and we won't hear about it at E3. Blizzcon in November is more likely. Rumor has it, Overwatch 2 will have a PvE mode.
• Destiny 2 continues to be real, and is going free-to-play and moving to Steam (opens in new tab)
And no more platform-exclusive content. When Shadowkeep releases, you'll have to move your account from Battle.net to Steam, which we're hoping will be painless. Cross-saves from PS4 are coming, too!
More stuff that happened this week
• Now you too can smell like an Xbox (opens in new tab)
• Geralt (well, his voice) is in Euro Truck Simulator 2 (opens in new tab)
• Bethesda wasn't surprised people didn't love Fallout 76 (opens in new tab)
• There's gonna be a Magic the Gathering TV show (opens in new tab)
• You can find lots of Final Fantasy soundtracks on Spotify (opens in new tab)
• Remember those Fallout 76 canvas bags? They're being shipped, finally (opens in new tab)
• Metro Exodus continues its tour of crappy launchers, hitting the Windows Store (opens in new tab)
• Another thing is real: Darksiders Genesis, lookin' like a Diablo-style game (opens in new tab)
• Apple has a new $6,000 workstation that only has a 256GB SSD (opens in new tab)
• Battlefield 5 Nazi given same name as a real guy who fought Nazis, and EA is sorry (opens in new tab)
Tweet of the week
Oh come on!Bad luck u/_MaCH_ pic.twitter.com/PLFkKtoq6AJune 5, 2019
Around the (virtual) office
We're busy buckling down for E3 and The PC Gaming Show and thinking about what our dream E3 announcement might be (opens in new tab). What's yours?
Meanwhile, Steven considered whether Google Stadia actually solves problems or just creates more (opens in new tab) and compared the new dragons in Elder Scrolls Online to the ones in Skyrim (opens in new tab). Chris visited a colorful yet gross world in Journey to the Savage Planet (opens in new tab) and had time to talk to Bethesda about Fallout 76, six months later (opens in new tab).
Andy played Ancestors, a survival game set 10 million years in the past (opens in new tab). Wes, meanwhile, empathized with the character in Exhausted Man (opens in new tab), who is too damn tired to stand up. Something we're all feeling right now.
Don't forget, The PC Gaming Show is live on Monday (opens in new tab). Here's what you can expect (opens in new tab).
