E3 2015 press conference schedule and what to expect

E3 2015 is finally here, and what a week it’s shaping up to be. Along with the usual showings from Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft and EA, 2015 marks the first time that Square Enix and Bethesda will be holding their own press conferences as well. Likewise, PC Gamer and AMD are joining forces to deliver E3’s first ever PC-only press conference in the form of the PC Gaming Show. With so much to keep track of, we’ve made things a bit easier by listing them all in one handy location.

Here, you’ll find a table of every E3 2015 press conference, both in local time and when it will be taking place in the UK. Of course, with so many shows taking place in the early hours of the morning for UK viewers, it’s no good stocking up on crisps, coffee and sweets to watch it live if you don’t know what’s coming, so we’ve also rounded up everything we’re expecting to see from each publisher as well. We’ll be covering all the big game releases in more detail as they’re announced, but for now, here’s everything you need to know about E3 2015. 

Bethesda – Monday 15th June 3am

This is Bethesda’s first ever E3 press conference, but what a way to kick off gaming’s week-long equivalent of Christmas. On top of an extensive Fallout 4 demo, Bethesda treated us to lots of footage of its new Doom title as well. It also announced Dishonored 2 (on top of Dishonored: Definitive Edition which includes all the original game’s DLC as well as enhanced graphics, out this fall), a brand-new team-based action title called Battlecry, Fallout: Shelter for iOS and new areas and content for The Elder Scrolls Online. 

Click on the links for more details about each game, but here’s a quick rundown of all the key points from the press conference:

Fallout 4: out 10th November 2015 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Play as a fully-voiced male or female character, create settlements, modify your armour and oogle at new lighting effects from the latest version of Bethesda’s Creation engine. 

Dishonored 2: out 2016 (likely) for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Play as both original assassin Corvo or orphaned princess Emily Kaldwin.

Doom: out spring 2016 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Multiplayer returns, while Doom SnapMap lets you create and share your own mod content with ease.

Battlecry: out 2015 for PC. A third-person team-based action game that’s F2P. Sign up for the beta now at battlecrythegame.com

Fallout Shelter: out now on iOS. A F2P Fallout spin-off for iOS where you manage your own Vault and survivors.

Elder Scrolls Online DLC: out 2016 for PS4 Xbox One and PC. Two new areas (Imperial City and Orsinium) to be added as well as new questline focusing on the Dark Brotherhood

Microsoft – Monday 15th June 5.30pm

Microsoft has several big-hitters in line for prime E3 coverage this year, including Rise of the Tomb Raider (which it has a timed exclusive on), Halo 5: Guardians and Fable Legends. There have also been rumblings that Microsoft will announce the fourth entry in the Gears of War franchise as well. Likewise, given that Microsoft opened its 2013 E3 press conference with the world’s first demo of Metal Gear V, we’re expecting Metal Gear V: The Phantom Pain to be another key Xbox title this year. 

With the imminent arrival of Windows 10, we’re also hoping Microsoft will tell us more about how Xbox will fit into its new operating system. It’s already promised that Windows 10 will let you stream games from your Xbox One to your PC, and, if we’re lucky, we may even see a glimpse of what the new OS will look like on Xbox One. However, with so many big games to get through, Microsoft may hold off talking about Windows 10 until the PC Gaming Show later in the week. See below for more details.

EA – Monday 15th June 9pm

Star Wars Battlefront will no doubt be front and centre of EA’s E3 press conference, but we’re also expecting to see new details on Visceral’s upcoming Star Wars game as well, which so far hasn’t received an official title. BioWare’s upcoming Mass Effect 4 is equally high on everyone’s priority lists – fingers crossed we get a proper title – as well as Mirror’s Edge 2. It’s possible we may get a sneak peak at Battlefield 5, but current consensus suggest this won’t be released until the end of 2016, so we’ll probably have to wait until next year before we see an official successor to Battlefield Hardline. 

Ubisoft – Monday 15th June 11pm

Ubisoft has several big titles confirmed for this year’s E3, including Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Rainbow Six Siege and The Division. However, it’s also said that there will be “a few big surprises” on show as well. Could this mean a second installment of Watch Dogs? The sequel to Ubisoft’s GTA-inspired hack’em-up is already rumoured to be in development, so we may well get our first glimpse of the new game in just a few days time.

Sony – Tuesday 16th June 2am

With Uncharted 4‘s recent delay until 2016, Sony would be shooting itself in the foot if it didn’t kick off its E3 press show with a hefty dose of Nathan Drake to appease angry fans. There’s also the leaked Nathan Drake Collection to watch out for as well, which groups together remastered versions of all three current Uncharted games in 1,080p and 60fps. 

We’re also expecting to see more of indie darling No Man’s Sky, Supermassive’s survival horror adventure game Until Dawn, Persona 5, the upcoming Ratchet & Clank remaster, Michel Ancel’s bizarre-looking Wild and Suda51’s free-to-play hack and slash Let It Die. We wouldn’t be surprised if Sony announced the next expansion to Destiny either, given its close associations with the game during its initial launch last year. 

It’s likely that Sony’s Project Morpheus VR headset will play a big role at E3, although it’s possible Sony might save this for behind closed doors demos rather than feature it on the main stage. However, considering Valve and HTC have said that its rival headset Vive will be ready for a consumer launch by the end of the year and now Oculus Rift by Q1 2016, we’re hopeful that Sony might at least announce a price and release date (and possibly even an official title) for its own pair of VR goggles.

Sony might also use this year’s E3 to announce new hardware revisions to the PS4. Top of the list is the PS4 Slim, but there have also been rumours about a 1TB version of the current PS4 as well. With any luck, we might get some more details on Sony’s PlayStation Now streaming service as well. 

Nintendo – Tuesday 16th June 5pm

Like last year, Nintendo will shunning its traditional stage show for a Nintendo Direct E3 livestream. Its Digital Event, which will be supplemented by in-depth gameplay demos with the Nintendo Treehouse team until June 18th, will likely focus on Nintendo’s bigger titles, as it’s already announced several smaller titles in another Nintendo Direct broadcast that took place on 1st June.

At the moment, these include Miyamoto’s new Starfox game, Monolith Soft’s epic JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles X and the next Legend of Zelda for Wii U, but knowing Nintendo there are bound to be more than a few surprises in store. Other likely suspects are the Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem crossover, Tomonoku “Dead or Alive” Itagaki’s hack and slash adventure Devil’s Third and Mario Maker, Nintendo’s Mario level editor.

Square Enix – Tuesday 16th June 6pm

Square Enix has been very secretive about what it will be announcing at its E3 press conference, but Final Fantasy XV will no doubt be play a big role in its 2015 E3 line-up. The company may even announce a release date if we’re lucky.

We’re also expecting SE to reveal more gameplay footage of the upcoming Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Just Cause 3, but there have also been rumours that it will be announcing a new Hitman game as well. Press invites for the conference revealed that Square Enix would be holding “an E3 party for a secret title”, but this could easily be Kingdom Hearts 3 or a new Dragon Quest title. 

PC Gaming Show – Wednesday 16th June 1am

Consoles have always taken pride of place at E3, but 2015 will be first year we’ve seen a press conference dedicated entirely to PC gaming. A joint venture between AMD and PC Gamer, this will almost certainly be the place to find out about Blizzard’s upcoming Overwatch, 2K’s newly announced X-COM 2 and Wizards of the Coast’s new D&D game Sword Coast Legends.

Of course, with AMD on board, it’s highly likely we’ll see some new hardware announcements, including new GPUs and how they’ll work with Microsoft’s DirectX 12, as well as some plugs for AMD’s own FreeSync technology. The creators behind Humble Bundle are also expected to make announcements at the PC Gaming Show, so make sure your wallets are primed and ready for even more game bundle goodness.