Halo Infinite, a spiritual reboot for the series, will make its way to E3 2019

By Aaron Mamiit Published March 3, 2019

Halo Infinite, the next installment in the popular shooter franchise and described as a “spiritual reboot” for the series, will make its way to E3 2019.

Bonnie Ross, the head of 343 Industries, sat down for an interview with IGN Unfiltered. One of the topics of discussion was the development of Halo Infinite, which is essentially Halo 6 as it will follow 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians.

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Ross said that 343 Industries had “great learning moments” with their previous work on the franchise, including Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo 4‘s multiplayer mode, and three REQ Packs and free maps of Halo 5‘s multiplayer mode.

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The team’s experience with the Halo franchise played a huge part in the development of Halo Infinite.

“We’re kind of calling it a ‘spiritual reboot,'” said Ross in the interview, “That’s kind of how we talk about it.”

What does the Halo franchise mean to 343 Industries? “It is about hope, and wonder, and heroism, and humanity, and community, and bringing a community together. That’s what that trailer is, and that’s what we want to do,” Ross explained, referring to the Halo Infinite teaser that Microsoft used to open its press briefing at E3 2018.

“We will join Master Chief on his greatest adventure yet to save humanity,” said Xbox head Phil Spencer then, without much detail about the game being revealed. A year later, at E3 2019, fans will finally know more about the highly anticipated title.

Ross revealed that Halo Infinite director Chris Lee will discuss more details about the game at the annual gaming event in June. What exactly Lee will talk about remains unknown, though Ross said that one of the topics will be the capabilities of the series’ new SlipSpace engine.

The confirmation that next Halo game will be at E3 2019 coincides with previous reports that it will be a launch title for the next-generation Xbox consoles, which are reportedly set to be unveiled at the event.

Microsoft is said to be working on two versions of the new Xbox, codenamed Anaconda and Lockhart and collectively known as Project Scarlett. Halo Infinite will likely play a huge part in the launch of the new Xbox consoles, which are said to have a release date in the fall of 2020.

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Ubisoft will not attend E3 2023, but it will still host a summer live stream

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Ubisoft will no longer be attending E3 2023, even though it said it would participate in February. Instead, the game publisher behind Assassin's Creed and Far Cry plans to hold its own Ubisoft Forward Live event in Los Angeles this June.
Ubisoft confirmed its change in plans to Video Games Chronicle today, with a spokesperson saying that while Ubisoft "initially intended to have an official E3 presence, we've made the subsequent decision to move in a different direction." This is a change in messaging from just over a month ago when Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said, "If E3 happens, we will be there, and we will have a lot of things to show."
What caused this change of heart in Ubisoft is unclear. However, it seems like the company found that it could still successfully promote its game lineup without being attached to the Entertainment Software Association's event. We don't know much about the Ubisoft Forward Live event other than it'll take place on June 12 in Los Angeles, but Ubisoft tells VGC that "we look forward to sharing more details with our players very soon."
This puts E3 2023 in a weird overall spot, as we currently know more about the companies that won't be at the event -- like Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Nintendo -- than we do about the publishers that will actually be there. After being canceled in 2020 and 2022 and being digital-only in 2021, E3 2023 was supposed to be the annual gaming trade show's grand return. Right now, though, the relevance and viability of E3 2023 are questionable.
ReedPop has not yet commented on the fact that Ubisoft is no longer attending E3 2023.

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"We approach our involvement in any event on a case-by-case basis and are always considering various ways to engage with our fans," a Nintendo spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. "Since this year’s E3 show didn’t fit into our plans, we have made the decision to not participate. However, we have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the ESA [Entertainment Software Association] and E3."
After taking 2020 and 2022 off and being digital-only in 2021, this year was supposed to mark the grand return of E3, which was once a dominant game industry trade show that attracted every big video game company. Although Sony hasn't participated since 2019, it still came as a shock in January when IGN reported that both Nintendo and Microsoft would not be attending E3 this year as well. It appears that the report is true, as Microsoft has not confirmed any E3-related events outside of its independently run Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.
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Let's start with the good news: E3 2023 will be held in its in-person format once again after three long years of digital events necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this time with ReedPop at the helm. The bad news is that Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo -- gaming's "Big 3" -- may not show up at the industry’s biggest convention this summer.

This is according to a report from IGN citing multiple sources, who claimed the companies won’t be a part of the show or make appearances on the floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center in any way. Their absence from this year’s E3, especially Nintendo’s, may come as a shock to the gaming community, but it's not such a surprise when looking at the past few iterations of E3. Even before the pandemic locked everyone down in 2020, Sony and Xbox had been hosting their own E3-style livestreams, so it was more likely they would do it again this year anyway. Nintendo, on the other hand, managed to show off its upcoming games via Nintendo Direct streams and at its booth, console kiosks and all.