Last night, it was Bethesda Softworks’ time to take the spotlight and make its big E3 announcements. The publisher, which is behind series like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Doom, showed off a small but varied slate of games that are all scheduled to release this year. The big one was the reveal of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, a sequel to 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order that takes place in an alternate 1960s where the Nazis conquered the world and series star BJ Blazkowicz sets out to incite a new American revolution against them. (You can find out more about that and watch the game’s crazy 10-minute-long debut trailer in our previous post about the reveal.)
Bethesda also announced a sequel to The Evil Within, the divisive horror game from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. It once again stars detective Sebastian Castellanos, who this time enters into a nightmare world to help save his lost daughter. The moody trailer makes it look even more surreal than the original. It’s scheduled for release on October 13 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Those big sequels were pretty much known quantities heading into the show, but Bethesda did have one surprise: a new Dishonored spinoff called Death Of The Outsider. It’ll be a standalone game starring the mysterious assassin Billie Lurk, as she and her partner Daud, another key figure in the series’ history, attempt to kill the occult deity known as The Outsider. It’s scheduled for release on September 15 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Bethesda is also readying a new curated modding initiative for Fallout 4 and Skyrim: Special Edition called Creation Club. It’ll include new items and game features created by Bethesda itself and outside developers, including “the very best community creators,” who’ll work with the publisher to make sure everything actually runs as intended before it hits the service, where it’ll be sold for “credits” that players purchase with real money. Outside creators will be paid for the stuff they make. Bethesda is quick to note, however, that Creation Club will be a separate entity from traditional free mods and claims those will continue to work the way they always have.
Outside of those big reveals, Bethesda revisited a handful of previously announced and released games. A virtual-reality version of Fallout 4 will be launching later this year for the HTC Vive (Oculus owes Bethesda a bunch of money, so the Rift isn’t exactly a priority), as will a new shooter based on the 2016 Doom reboot. That one is coming to PlayStation VR as well. Also, Elder Scrolls: Legends, the company’s digital card game, is going to get a Skyrim-inspired expansion. And speaking of Skyrim, a version of the popular game for Nintendo Switch is still on the way. It’ll include all of the game’s post-release content and sport a few exclusive features, like motion controls and support for Nintendo’s collectible amiibos, which will unlock new gear, including a few items that should look familiar to Zelda fans.