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Everything announced at Square Enix’s E3 showcase

Coming hot of the heels of Microsoft and Bethesda’s jam-packed E3 showcase, Square Enix delivered its own livestream full of announcements. Like its recent Square Enix Presents stream presentation, it was a tight 40-minute show that focused on a handful of upcoming titles.

Much of the news was expected, as Square Enix shared the itinerary beforehand. A large chunk of the stream was dedicated to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, a new single-player game from Eidos. Life is Strange: True Colors and Babylon’s Fall were a a big part of the show as well. There was only one surprise, though it had leaked beforehand: Final Fantasy Origin. Here’s a full breakdown of the breezy E3 showcase.

Final Fantasy Origin is a new Souls-like from Team Ninja

STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN | Announcement Teaser Trailer

As rumored before the event, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a new game from developer Team Ninja. It’s a “Souls-like” title that features a heavy emphasis on hack-and-slash action against giant enemies. The title is coming sometime in 2022 and will have a demo available “soon” on PlayStation 5.

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Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy takes the stage

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy | Official Reveal Trailer

Square Enix is publishing another game based on Marvel’s superheroes, but it’s much different than Marvel’s Avengers. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a single-player action adventure game where players control Star-Lord. Like Mass Effect, it features branching dialogue options and a feature that lets players issue commands to their teammates. The title is developed by Eidos-Montreal, the team behind the Deus Ex franchise.

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The game will not feature any post-launch content, such as DLC, and is not a live service game. It’s a complete single-player experience. It’ll launch on October 26 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Babylon’s Fall shows off NieR-esque action

BABYLON’S FALL | E3 2021 Trailer

Babylon’s Fall got a major spotlight at the show. The action title is the newest game from PlatinumGames … and it shows. The action looks similar to the studio’s hit NieR: Automata. In fact, the stream featured an interview with the game’s developer who explicitly mentioned the game.

The game is a live service title that will get continued updates.

Life is Strange: True Colors empathy powers detailed

Life is Strange: True Colors - Power and Consequence [ESRB]

A chunk of the stream focused on the Life is Strange series. First, we got a new trailer for the upcoming Life is Strange Remastered Collection.

Life is Strange: True Colors got the bulk of the spotlight. The developers explained how the game’s empathy powers work. Alex can see colorful auras around characters, which allow her to dive into their thoughts. If Alex empowers a strong aura, she can create an aura, which lets her experience a physical version of the character’s psyche.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster updates six games

FINAL FANTASY PIXEL REMASTER | E3 Teaser Trailer

The first six games in the Final Fantasy series are getting a remake of sorts. Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster features every game in the series up through Final Fantasy VI. It will come to Steam and mobile platforms “soon.” It was a somewhat vague announcement that left several questions about what’s been updated in the new releases.

Marvel’s Avengers: War for Wakanda gets a new trailer

Marvel's Avengers Expansion: Black Panther - War for Wakanda Cinematic Trailer

Square Enix gave a closer look at the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers DLC. War for Wakanda brings Black Panther to the game in a new story line that takes place in Wakanda. The update will be free, though it still doesn’t have a release date.

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
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."
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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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Nintendo confirms that it won’t be part of E3 2023
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Nintendo has confirmed reports that it won't be participating in E3 2023, meaning the gaming trade show will be missing one of its key vendors when it returns in-person this June.
"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."
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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.

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