"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks. This latest edition comes near the end of a week of video game announcements and presentations from major publishers during E3. Of note, Sony (SONY), Activision Blizzard (ATVI), and Electronic Arts (EA) did not have presentations during this period.
UBISOFT: The first major press conference of the weekend was held by Ubisoft (UBSFY), who opened the show with a detailed gameplay trailer and developer explanation of "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction," a multiplayer shoote set to come out September 16 of this year. The French publisher also announced interactive music learning service "Rocksmith+," gave more information on September action sports game "Riders Republic," and shooter "Far Cry 6," and unveiled "Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope," a strategy game based on the "Mario" and "Rayman" franchises that is being made in partnership with Nintendo (NTDOY). Ubisoft closed the show with the unveiling of "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora," an action game based on the "Avatar" film franchise set for release in 2022.
MICROSOFT: In its keynote event on June 13, Microsoft (MSFT) unveiled a number of new games for its Xbox Series X and S consoles, with all but a few games discussed in the showcase guaranteed to come to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. The show opened with Bethesda, which was recently acquired by Microsoft, releasing a cinematic trailer for sci-fi role-playing game "Starfield," which is set for release in November 2022 exclusively for PC and Xbox consoles. Microsoft also gave an update on "Halo Infinite," whose multiplayer offering will be free-to-play at launch. While a specific release date was not given, the company is targeting a Holiday 2021 launch window. Other games showcased included Microsoft originals "Forza Horizon 5," "The Outer Worlds 2," and "Redfall," as well as confirmation that upcoming multiplayer horror shooter "Back 4 Blood" will launch on Xbox Game Pass on day one of its October 2021 release.
NINTENDO: At its 40-minute Direct Presentation on June 15, Nintendo unveiled a number of first-party titles that will be coming to the Switch exclusively, including many set for release later this year. The Japanese gaming giant announced "Metroid Dread," the first original 2D game in the "Metroid" franchise in nineteen years, which will be released in October 2021. Nintendo also premiered "WarioWare: Get It Together," "Mario Party Superstars," "Shin Megami Tensei V," and "Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp," all of which are slated for release later in 2021. In terms of third-party offerings, Nintendo also said that Sega's (SGAMY) "Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania," Square Enix's (SQNXF) "Life is Strange: True Colors," and Bandai Namco's "Dragonball Z: Kakarot" are all set to be ported to the Switch family of consoles. The company's biggest reveal, however, was a second trailer for the upcoming sequel to "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," which is set for release in 2022. Nintendo did not provide any information on the rumored "Switch Pro," though the company noted before the showcase began that it would only focus on software in the presentation.
OTHER NOTABLE SHOWCASES:
Sega Sammy Holdings
+ (+0.00%)
Electronic Arts
-4.06 (-2.73%)
Take-Two
-6.57 (-3.52%)
acquired by MSFT
-3.21 (-3.24%)
Square Enix
-2.694 (-5.00%)
Capcom
-0.305 (-1.97%)
Ubisoft
+0.08 (+0.56%)
GameStop
-18.64 (-8.13%)
Tencent
-0.04 (-0.05%)
Nintendo
-2.77 (-3.60%)
Sony
-0.6 (-0.60%)
Microsoft
-1.41 (-0.54%)