Though Microsoft didn't utter a single peep about its next-generation console during last week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, IGN has been able to piece together an early launch lineup through information gleaned from various backroom E3 demos, tips, leaks, surveys, and hints.
While we can’t guarantee Day One-availability for all of these, we can confidently surmise that all of these titles should be available during the still-unnamed system’s launch window. Naturally, there will be more, but this is what we suspect right now.
Watch Dogs: The Ubisoft Montreal development team has affirmed that their surprise E3 darling will be hitting current-generation consoles. However, they also more or less confirmed an Xbox 720 version, if you read between the lines of their quote: “As far as the platform goes, we're running on PC at the current E3. It's official for PS3 and 360. And since we don't have any ship dates, we're also hoping for any other platforms, multiple platforms, for the future.” Two additional bits of evidence here, as if that wasn’t enough: first, Ubisoft has an established corporate strategy of giving any and all platform launches heavy support. From Xbox 360 to Kinect to PlayStation Vita and the upcoming Wii U, they take a double-barreled approach to new consoles. And second, the incredible demo we witnessed at E3 was being played on a high-end PC with an Xbox controller. Odds are very good that their configuration is a ballpark approximation of the Xbox 720 specifications.
Rainbow Six: Patriots: Remember what we just said about Ubisoft betting big on any new console? Expect them to make a huge play for the Xbox Live audience on the 720 with their biggest multiplayer franchise. As you may recall, Rainbow Six 3 dominated Xbox Live in the original Xbox days, and the two Rainbow Six Vegas games were hugely popular in the first couple years of the 360’s lifecycle. Then, however, the series disappeared and Call of Duty swooped in and stole all of Rainbow’s thunder (and then some). We’re quite certain the publisher is not keen on seeing one of their biggest brands eclipsed again when the next-generation systems level the playing field. Furthermore, Patriots was originally announced as a 2013 title, and its no-show at E3 this year lends plenty of credence to the idea that it will resurface as a next-gen offering next holiday. Like Watch Dogs, the next Rainbow Six might also make an appearance on current-gen machines, but we suspect the 720 version will lead the way.
Destiny: We don’t even need to speculate on this one – we have official, court-documented proof courtesy of Activision’s recently settled court case with Vince Zampella and Jason West! Heck, the Xbox 720 is even mentioned by name in the official contract. Who would’ve thought that despite not only losing Bungie as the developer of Halo but also as a Microsoft-owned studio that The House That Bill Gates Built would still manage to launch a new Xbox with a Bungie game as the killer-app anyway? Yes, there will be an Xbox 360 version, but there won’t be a PlayStation SKU of any sort – not for at least a year, anyway, again per the contract details. Look for Destiny, a first-person shooter with massively multiplayer features of some kind (be they minor or major) to be the ace up Microsoft’s sleeve when they finally do being touting their next console.
Star Wars 1313: LucasArts isn’t even really hiding it on this one. They haven’t so much as hinted at a current-gen release for their epic, M-rated new Star Wars action franchise, and their E3 demonstration used a high-end PC and showcased things no Xbox 360 can do. The visual effects, character models, and scale/scope of the scenes shown made no attempt to look like they could be done on existing platforms, and we seriously doubt LucasArts is going to release a PC-exclusive Star Wars game that’s not an MMORPG. Also, continuing a theme from E3, all current-gen games we saw were given release dates of no later than Q1 2013 (so as to land squarely within this console cycle). Star Wars 1313, conversely, was issued no such launch window.
Forza Motorsport 5: Longtime series developer Turn 10 has been on a semi-annual release schedule since the franchise was born, and with new partner Playground Games handling the spinoff Forza Horizon this year, it frees Turn 10 to quietly hammer away on a whiz-bang next-gen launch title – the Xbox 720’s Project Gotham Racing 3, if you will.
Call of Duty '13: Of course it will come to every platform known to man, but you can bet on Activision and Infinity Ward having something special in store for the Xbox 720 version. Will it be Modern Warfare 4, or will the developer take the opportunity to launch a new sub-franchise? Either way, they’re not going to want to lose their grip on the die-hard Xbox crowd when the new console launches.
