E3 2015: Games that will NOT be at the show

The week before E3 is a great time to look forward to the blockbuster games that will be at the show. Many of those games have already been revealed, like Star Wars: Battlefront and Battleborn. Others are hinting at a major presence at E3, with games like Mirror's Edge 2 and Payday 2 studio Overkill Software's take on The Walking Dead tweeting countdowns to the big event next week. That's all stuff to get excited about and, yes, I will also chime in with the rest of the Shacknews staff about games to look forward to for the big show.

However, sometimes excitement can go too far, so I'd like to help temper some of that by reminding everyone of big-time games that will not be on the E3 show floor next week. Most of these are games whose publishers have already confirmed that they will skip the show, so there's point in getting a hype train started for any of these games. With that said, of all the games to get excited about, these are not them.

The Legend of Zelda

This will occasionally slip into our Chatty threads. Threads that gauge excitement for E3 will occasionally have posts talking about how excited someone is to see The Legend of Zelda for Wii U. And yes, that is the biggest game on the horizon for Nintendo. But that's exactly why the game will not be at E3 next week.

Remember the initial delay announcement? As part of that delay announcement, series producer Eiji Aonuma noted that the team would be working diligently to craft the largest Zelda game (both in size and scope) in franchise history. Because of that, Nintendo noted on Twitter that The Legend of Zelda would not be making an appearance at E3 this year.

Kingdom Hearts III

Speaking of new franchise installments with agonizingly long wait times, the wait for Kingdom Hearts III has almost reached ten years since the end of KH2. And as has become the norm at this point, information is coming out at a snail's pace. While Square Enix has not made an official statement regarding Kingdom Hearts III's presence at E3, I can only think back to the launch event for Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix last year at the Disney Studios in Burbank.

Fans in attendance were treated to performances from the series' composers, as well as retrospective videos, and fan-made testimonies for how Kingdom Hearts has affected their growth as gamers. And later, those fans were treated to an extremely early look at Kingdom Hearts III, with rough sketches and early concept art. It concluded with the message "Coming in 2015... more information."

So, no, I'm sorry, Kingdom Hearts fans. While I won't rule out that Square Enix will offer an update on the game's progress during its Tuesday press event, there's pretty much zero chance that anything resembling a playable build will be ready. The wait will just have to go a little longer, especially since one of its key English voice roles may now have to be re-cast.

Quantum Break

Let's continue with the theme of games that have been years in development. Next up is Remedy's Quantum Break, a game that I still remember looking at way back at E3 2013. It looked like everything was going fine for the studio, with the game's first gameplay footage even making its debut at last year's Gamescom. Unfortunately, Microsoft confirmed that it would be delayed to 2016.

Does that mean that Quantum Break won't be at the show? Well, if that delay announcement left any ambiguity, Remedy itself came out yesterday and confirmed that the game would not make the show. Studio co-founder Sam Lake noted in a video (below) that the game's next appearance would be at Gamescom in August, which should come at something of a disappointment for fans. However, Lake looks to be promising big things for the Gamescom demo, so hopefully it will have made some significant progress since we last saw it in 2014.

The Last Guardian

Let's not do this again. Please. That was my reaction when I saw Twitter suddenly start to buzz in late May about The Last Guardian possibly making an appearance at E3. Sure enough, rumors have swirled on various gaming news sites, NeoGAF, and Reddit that The Last Guardian will make an appearance at the show. News website The Guardian fueled that fire further, saying they have it on "good authority" that the game will be at E3 this year -- really, they mean it and they're super serious. And yes, I'm well aware that our own Steve Watts has it as his dark horse pick for the PlayStation press conference this year.

Has no one learned anything from last year (besides me, who still feels like an idiot)? Stop with the rumors! If The Last Guardian is coming, it will come. Sony will pull the curtain back and say, "Look, here's The Last Guardian!" and we can all begin a proper hype cycle, as we anxiously await its two-to-three year development cycle and grind our teeth waiting for the next game from the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus developer.

Until then, I feel fully confident in saying that The Last Guardian will not... and let me emphasize this... not be at E3! If it is, I will eat my proverbial hat and I will look like a complete dope for the second year in a row. But let's not play the rumor game again and just go into this year's E3 with the assumption that The Last Guardian will not be there. And if it is, then hooray, it'll be a pleasant surprise for everyone.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?