One of the biggest game development companies that will be showcasing their wares at E3 2021 is Capcom
What Does Capcom Have Up Its Sleeve For E3?
2021 is already a better year for video game fans because the annual E3 event is happening. It was cancelled in 2020 for obvious reasons. This year it's back - albeit in a semi-virtual format - and it should provide us with a window into the future of gaming for the next twelve months and beyond. There will be a few big hitters absent from the event, with Sony abstaining for yet another year, but there are enough big-name companies and exhibitors there to make tuning in worth your while.
One of the biggest game development companies that will be showcasing their wares at E3 2021 is Capcom. In years past, we'd have to wait for the event itself to find out what the exhibiting companies want to show us, but it appears that someone at Capcom has been leaking. The video gaming press already seems to be aware of what Capcom intends to show off over the weekend. We'll give you the full detail right here, but take it with a pinch of salt. Everything should be treated as a rumour until it's confirmed, and even if it's all true, Capcom might still have a special surprise or two up its sleeve for us!
Capcom's dedicated showcase will happen on Monday, June 14th, at 2:30pm PST. Remember to translate that into local time wherever you are - you wouldn't want to tune in too late and miss it! It's not the greatest slot Capcom could have landed, as it puts them on after Square Enix, Ubisoft, and most importantly, Microsoft's Xbox showcase. The latter is likely to be one of the highlights of the whole weekend. Capcom has shared a little of what to expect on its Twitter account. They intend to highlight four games, specifically "The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles," "Monster Hunter Rise," "Monster Hunter Stories 2," and "Resident Evil: Village."
Of the four titles listed, "The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles" is the one that western audiences are least likely to be familiar with. It's a spin-off from the "Ace Attorney" series that's been a big hit in the far East, but this is the first time a version of an "Ace Attorney" game has been deliberately released in the west. This is great news for the small-but-dedicated western group of fans of the series, who have thus far relied on imports to get their fix of the detective games. Capcom must have big plans for the game if they're prepared to make space in their limited E3 showcase for it, so presumably, if all goes well, we might eventually see the previous games in the franchise remastered and re-released in Europe and the US.
By giving us not one but two "Monster Hunter" showcases, Capcom is showing its hand in terms of where its marketing focus is going to be for the next 3-6 months. They're finally past the bulk of their marketing campaign for the latest version of "Resident Evil," so "Monster Hunter" is next up for promotion. The full title for the sequel is "Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin," but aside from that, very little detail about the game has been provided so far. The "Stories" aspect of the title is important, though. "Monster Hunter" games that fall under the "Stories" subheading tend to be more story-driven than games in the main series. If you're not familiar with the series at all, we're afraid we can't even hope to explain everything you'd need to know in this one article, so we encourage you to go back to its origins and work your way forward from there. We can assure you that it'll be a rewarding experience if you're a fan of the genre.
The selection of "Monster Hunter Rise" for the showcase is a little surprising because the game has already been available for some time. It recently got its third patch - complete with associated downloadable content - which extends the game and even provides it with an alternative ending. The future of this incarnation of "Monster Hunter" is rumoured to involve crossovers with other Capcom-made titles. We might find out whether that's true or false during the presentation. We can at least confirm that there's plenty of new content coming for the game between now and the end of the year, so hopefully, Capcom will fill in the blanks when it comes to specifics.
Including "Resident Evil: Village" isn't a surprise given the importance of the game's financial performance to Capcom as a whole, but it's curious that it hasn't been joined by "Resident Evil: ReVerse." The long-planned MMO version of "Resident Evil" was originally planned to go live at the same time as "Village" but is yet to appear. Its absence here might suggest a problem with its development. Capcom has managed to approve and launch an online slots game based on "Resident Evil" along with several remastered versions of previous games, but there hasn't been anything to report about "ReVerse" for a long time. If the online slots version of "Resident Evil" is getting more attention than a new console game, we probably won't hold our breath in expectation that we'll see it this year. That's not to say we have anything against the online slots game - we believe it's very popular at Rose Slots Canada - but that’s not what most players have been holding out for. We won’t rule out the possibility that Capcom is going to surprise us during the event with the announcement that it’s going to become available immediately, but we haven’t heard any rumours to support that idea.
Speaking of surprises, there's one title we'll all be watching Capcom for, and that's "Street Fighter VI." The company has dragged more out of "Street Fighter V" than anyone thought possible, but they're almost out of characters who could be added as DLC, and the game is beginning to look its age. We know that there were people working on the game two years ago at Capcom, so we'd like to think that it must be nearing completion - or nearing the point where there's something to show us, at the very least. Will this be its moment? We'll have to tune in to find out - and so we shall!
