Update: Microsoft PR has officially responded to the leaks with the following message:
_(ツ)_/¯
Original Story: Just hours before beginning its E3 2016 press conference, Microsoft has been hit by a massive leak. Unlike many leaks in the past, this was done mistakenly on its own watch; Microsoft PR forgot to set its press assets to private before sending out links. So, a flood of information has hit the internet, and it's got gamers talking.
Below we will go over all the confirmed leaks from Microsoft's press conference thus far. As a quick note, these leaks don't cover everything Microsoft will include in its presentation tomorrow, so you should still tune in when it begins at 9:30AM PDT.
State of Decay 2
The first State of Decay did quite well, so Microsoft has decided to pursue a sequel. Undead Labs has been working on the game for three years and has something nearing completion that looks a whole lot better thanks to the new generation of hardware.
This is a zombie survival-horror game that is played in third-person. It will include a heavy amount of exploration, combat, and survival elements. This time around the game will supposedly be multiplayer-based instead of being limited to single-player.
Xbox One Slim
We heard about this one for months. The Xbox One Slim is coming soon and it's just as you would expect: smaller, more efficient, and prettier than its older brother.
The console is said to be 40% smaller and will come bundled in 1TB and 2TB hard drive variants. It'll also support 4K Ultra HD video, a major factor heading toward the holiday season of 2016 where 4K televisions will sell like hot cakes. Most surprisingly, it'll fit the power brick into its smaller form factor.
Microsoft Third-Party
As part of its presentation Microsoft will show off the following and more:
- Battlefield 1
- Dead Rising 4
- Mass Effect: Andromeda
- Titanfall 2
Not a bad line-up, even if it's shooter heavy.
Halo Wars 2
Bad news, Halo fans. The next Halo game will arrive in February of next year instead of Fall 2016. Although unfortunate, at the very least it'll be playable in the next few days. Yes, a beta is planned, and it'll be announced as one of Microsoft's big surprises.
Microsoft hopes to acquire useful testing data during the beta in an effort to balance and polish and final product. This will be a nice change of pace from the, "You'll have to wait a few months to play this game" style of most E3 reveals.
ReCore
The release date for Keiji Inafune's next game will be announced tomorrow. That release date is September 13th for North America, which puts ReCore at the tail end of the Summer game drought.
Above you can see its box art. Tomorrow you can expect to see gameplay for the first time.
Ori and the Blind Forest 2
Not all of Microsoft's reveals will be AAA titles. Ori and the Blind Forest is the Xbox One's most beloved indie console exclusive. In 2017 it will be the recipient of a sequel called Ori and the Blind Forest 2.
This sequel will play similarly to the original, although new skills and environments will be introduced.
Age of Empires
Strategy games have been in decline as MOBAs have captured the attention of many gamers. Even then, there's still demand for revivals of classics, perhaps most notably Age of Empires.
As far back as early 2015 there were reports of a studio called Decisive Games working on a new Age of Empires title. It's taken them a while to get their product into a presentable state, but tomorrow fans will finally get to see what the franchise looks like on modern hardware. This will supposedly be released on both Xbox One and PC, similar to Halo Wars 2.
New Forza
Although no official title has been leaked, a new Forza will be showcased tomorrow that has a late 2016 release date. This will not be the racing simulator style of the Motorsport games, and will instead have the cadence of Forza Horizon. It's unclear if the game is Forza Horizon 3.
Yes, not much of a surprise, but Forza is currently a leader in its genre when it comes to critical reception. As previously announced by Microsoft, all Forza games going forward will release on both Xbox One and PC.
